I went to the zoo, just the other week....

To mark the last day of 2007 we ventured to the zoo today. Danielle, Morgan and Leah joined us and we even ran into Kim & Griffin while we were there! It was a great day as the animals were not nearly as lethargic as they are in the summer heat and Sebastian was definitely noticing the animals this time. It was neat watching his face as he watched the otters frolicking in the snow and the octopus playing with lego. I made a mental note, as we have a yearly membership and parking is free until March, that we must take more treks to the zoo this season. So, if anyone is up for the adventure give us a shout! The more the merrier!

Happy New Year!
Kim

Our New Toy Box

For awhile now Sebastian's toys have been taking up our living room. It's taken quite awhile but right before the holidays I began to get irritated by looking at toys 24/7. As a result, Jamie and I took a trek out yesterday afternoon and purchased a beautiful storage bench that not only gives Sebastian's toys a place to go when he's not playing with them, it also makes our living room somewhat adult-oriented too!! The best of both worlds...what more could a mom ask for? =)

May I please have some cheese to go with my whine???

What a holiday! First off, I apologize for not updating the blog sooner... I feel that I missed Christmas this year, which was one of the reasons why I haven't updated the blog until now.

After our eventful night with Sebastian getting sick and my relief that he was ill prior to the holidays, I spent the weekend getting all of us ready to head to "the Farm" (Jamie's parent's) for Christmas. Early afternoon Christmas Eve Jamie was busy packing the car and I was standing in the middle of our living room cuddling with Sebastian, when it happened once again... he vomited! All over himself and me, which included our very nice Christmas Eve clothes!!

I think I stood in the middle of the living room in shock for a bit, hoping that Jamie would come into the house and save me from the mess. It took a bit before I realized that Jamie wasn't going to be coming back into the house anytime soon, so I did the only thing I knew... I plopped Sebastian in the bathtub.....

An hour and a half later, after reassurances that kids get sick and it wasn't a big deal, we were on our way to Paris to the grandparents house to spend our Christmas Eve. Well, I should have gone with my gut instinct and stayed home because that night I started vomiting and was unwell until Boxing Day morning. As a result, I missed Christmas dinner and the Christmas pudding (So if anyone has leftovers they want to send my way let me know!! Ha!) and wasn't able to spend the Christmas that I had envisioned we were going to have as a family.


However, I am not whining (really!). I was able to sit and watch Sebastian open his gifts and play with them...and I know Sebastian had a wonderful time. And Jamie, of course, is my hero - not only did he take care of Sebastian for the entire day he also managed to take care of me too.

Unfortunately whatever it was that we had (I think it was just a nasty ol' stomach virus) it was highly contagious... Seems like it's made it's way through the family and as a result of this we chose to not go down to Fort Erie to spend Christmas with my family until after the New Year. We'll be heading down next weekend so I'll post some pics from that adventure when we return.

Wishing you and your Family the Happiest of Holidays and All the Best Wishes for a Prosperous New Year!

Love,
Kim, Jamie & Sebastian

What a Night!

Our night started off normal... Sebastian was in bed by 7 p.m. and Jamie and I were looking forward to spending our evening relaxing with some port and wrapping Christmas presents. At approx. 7:15 p.m. Sebastian awakes and is crying quite strongly so Jamie runs upstairs to settle him back down. Jamie calls out for me in a panicked voice so I run upstairs to see Sebastian covered in vomit. Not only is he covered, but there's vomit in the crib, on the crib and even on the floor. Poor guy was quite scared, reasonably so. Jamie and I quickly stripped him down and while I soothed him Jamie was a champ and cleaned up the puke.

Okay, so by now you should be asking yourself, "What is the big deal? It's only puke and why would Kim be blogging about it?" Well you see, for us, it was a big deal. This was Sebastian's first ever big boy puke. He used to spittle a bit as an infant but nothing like what we faced last night. And no sooner had we cleaned him up with fresh pajamas, he puked again! This time all over himself and me! I wasn't actually as grossed out as I thought I would be. I was more focused on reassuring Sebastian that he was okay and cleaning up the mess once again.

Again we stripped him down, got him into fresh pajamas and cuddled. By now he was pretty pale and green, but thankfully he was drinking his water well. I contacted Evelyn, the woman who cares for him while I'm working, as she was ill on Friday and we deduced that he probably picked up a stomach virus. She reassured me that she was fine within 24hrs and since he didn't have a fever and he was drinking his water I knew we just had to wait it out and let things run its course.

In total our little guy got sick 4 times. By then we were able to direct the vomit into the bucket and him and I were both covered in towels as well as a full-sleeve artists smock on Sebastian to help keep our clothes clean. After having some crackers Sebastian finally drifted off to sleep in my arms at 10:15 p.m. We both fell asleep in the chair cuddling and it wasn't until midnight that Jamie woke me up and I placed Sebastian in his crib for the night.

The rest of the night was uneventful and it was nice to see colour in Sebastian's face this morning when he awoke. Which of course was still early at 6:30 a.m. despite not having nearly as much sleep as he normally gets!

But he's in great spirits, there's been no pukeage (is that even a word?) as of yet today and hopefully neither Jamie and I will catch whatever he had! So now we're a little behind on our holiday prep, but that's okay...we've survived our first bout of having a vomiting toddler. And we're just thankful that this little adventure happened now as opposed to Tuesday!

Spoon!

(And no, to those who know me, this entry isn't about the Tick!)

Wednesday marked Sebastian's 15 month birthday! Happy Birthday! To celebrate I sang Happy Birthday to Sebastian all the way home on Wednesday. It was the only song to which he sung along... If I changed the tune he began to protest, so I kept singing. I'm wondering how long I'm going to keep up celebrating his birthday every month? I have visions of him being 19, away at school and me calling him up on the 19th of each month just to wish him a happy birthday. Let's see...the month after his 19th birthday I'll be wishing him a happy 229th month birthday! Now let's hope I did my math correct there...it's one thing to do poorly in math but another when you're keeping a blog and everyone can see your blunder!

This month I've noticed a marked difference in Sebastian's interactions with other children. He is now approaching them and initiating conversation. Unfortunately, the other children have no idea what he's saying, but he's trying! Sebastian is also attempting to run, which is nerve racking at times, and his vocabulary is growing daily.

The other new nifty thing that our lil' grub is doing is refusing to eat unless he has a utensil. Of course this means mealtimes are now taking longer but it's neat watching Sebastian use a spoon and I'm amazed at how quickly his skills have developed! I even gave him a fork the other night, demonstrating how to use it, and he quickly caught on. The picture below was actually taken from this morning's escapades with his yogurt. He normally doesn't make much of a mess when using the spoon but this pic was too funny not to share!


Check out those teeth!! I don't think I've seen another toddler with such gargantuan teeth!

Side Note: Jamie clarified earlier today that the reason why Sebastian's face was so messy was because he was trying to lick the yogurt out of the cup. So I guess it wasn't his use of the spoon after all! Oh well!

Our First Hair Cut!!

Sebastian's hair prior to getting it cut. Love the hawk!!

As the title suggests, we braved the snow earlier today and took Sebastian to get his first hair cut! As always, our boy was a champ! He sat still and looked at a book while the hairdresser worked her magic (a.k.a., fixing up mama's uneven bang job!!). It went wonderfully well and we even received a certificate when we were done commemorating the moment. As I had previously cut his hair we didn't take any of his locks home with us. I think there comes a time when saving your kids hair just becomes a tad bit creepy...

Getting ready




Snip-snip-snip




Ta-Da!!


Now if you're wondering why his bangs still look a tad bit uneven it's because the hairdresser "softened" his bangs so they don't look so straight-cut (think of Ralph Wiggum from the Simpsons..that's the look we don't want!).

As for the rest of our day we're going to stay close to home. Sebastian is currently napping, Jamie is in the kitchen perusing cookbooks to commence his holiday baking and I'm sitting here with a hot chocolate and a Tabs at my side. We have instrumental holiday music playing in the background and all I have to say is "let it snow! let it snow! let it snow!"....we have no place we need to go!

Hoping everyone is staying warm,
Kim

For awhile now Sebastian has been in need of getting a hair cut but I kept putting it off until it got to the point that he either got a haircut or I went out and purchased clips to keep his bangs out of his eyes! So with that being said I went and got our scissors and decided that I was going to give Sebastian's bangs a trim earlier this week.

Lesson learned: I cannot cut hair. Even when your toddler is strapped in their highchair and they're focused on eating their fishy crackers!! And no matter how hard you try, it will still look like you put a bowl on your kids head! Luckily though I faired much better from the last time I attempted to cut someone's hair (it was back in my college days and I nipped Tom in the back of his neck! Oops!).

And the funniest part was that when we went to Gymboree on Tuesday quite a few of our new mommy friends commented on Sebastian's new mommy-haircut. I heard lots of stories of how they cut their own child's hair once and never again. And I agree. Poor kid still looks like his mom put a bowl on his head! Which means of course, we're going to one of those hair places this weekend that caters to toddlers for our first real hair cut! Should be a grand adventure!

We took our trek to Michigan this past weekend to celebrate Christmas with our family. It was great being able to see everyone and the 3 of us had a good time. Once again we were amazed at Sebastian's endurance! Instead of his normal bedtime of 7 p.m. he lasted until a little bit after 10 p.m. and was in pretty good spirits. He really enjoyed himself and did a great job not touching everything at Aunt Nancy's (and thank goodness to that! I much prefer the "you touch it and it's yours" game vs. the new one of "you break it and you pay" game! Ha!). Thank you once again to Aunt Nancy for your hospitality! We really appreciate being able to stay over and spending time with you.

Yesterday we just stayed around the house and played. It was a low key day compared to the hustle bustle of the weekend and was much needed. Today we headed off to Gymboree for our play group and I've noticed quite a difference in Sebastian from when we first started attending. He is much more interested in what the other children are doing and he's much more interactive. It's great seeing him being so social with others. We were invited out to Starbucks following group today with the other mom's but unfortunately we had errands to run. Hopefully next week we'll be able to sit back and relax with the mom's after class (I'm already looking forward to the tazo chai!).

Other than that, there really isn't too much new to report. Sebastian is now walking well and he's even attempted to pick up the pace a bit. He loves it when we say "I'm going to get you!" and squeals with delight. Unfortunately he has it a little backwards as he will run to us laughing as opposed to running away! He also loves playing with his ball and trucks and will sit contently and look at his books. Sebastian is also learning new words every day. This past weekend we taught him how to say "Cheers!" and raise his glass - just in time for the holidays!! He also says cheese, oh-oh-, bus, mama, dada, car, truck, vroom and hi (just to name a few). He's also beginning to use his sign language more, with the sign for "more" being one of the most used ones at the moment. When people say kids brains are like sponges they really aren't joking! This kid just soaks everything up!

Anyways, I've added a few pics from our weekend away. I was going to add a pic or two of the haircut I gave Sebastian yesterday...but that will just have to wait! =)
Hope everyone is doing well,
Kim

There is nothing better in this world than waking up to 10-15 cm of snow and knowing that you have no where you need to be today (and having a baby who decides to let you sleep in until 8:30 isn't too bad either!) to make your Sunday a wonderful one!!

We have had a wonderful lazy day playing around and recuperating from a busy week of illness. I'm still sick but luckily Sebastian is now on the mends and Jamie has managed to be well through all of this sickness mayhem. Hopefully this means that none of us will be ill during the holidays! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that one!

Our Saturday was also spent relaxing with Uncle Dan and Auntie Alice who joined us for breakfast and lunch. Sebastian was quite comical acting all shy in front of Dan and Alice and as much as I hate saying that a toddler is "flirting" with someone, Sebastian was definitely a little googly-eyed for Alice. I've never quite seen him like this before but it was quite evident that he enjoyed having her around! Guess I won't have to worry about having Sebastian misbehaving when Auntie Alice is over! =)

We're supposed to be getting more snow tonight once the rain stops so hopefully the weather won't be too bad tomorrow as I really do want to get out tomorrow with Sebastian to play in the snow. I think we may have to try some tobogganing this year, which of course means that I need to get out and buy a toboggan! I can't begin to explain how much fun it is being able to do kid stuff all over again!

Actually...I never really stopped acting like a kid but now I don't get those odd looks by people passing by. Okay, I should clarify that I don't get those odd looks as often as I used to, except every now and then someone will look at me as if they're saying "Don't worry, I know you're only using your kid as an excuse to get away with acting like this!" And I just smile back because I know they're jealous! *laugh*

And Jamie will be the first to tell you it was I who was jumping up and down in Sebastian's room with glee this morning shouting "It snowed! It snowed!" and doing my snow dance (yes, I have a snow dance). But don't worry... You see, I'm teaching Sebastian all the intricacies of being a kid...and next winter we'll be jumping up and down together. =)

Wishing everyone a Monday full of playful moments,
Kim

The antics of Sebastian continue to amaze me on a daily basis.

Yesterday Sebastian decided that he was going to attempt to climb on top of his "Bee Bop Band" drum. This isn't a huge drum by any means, as he could easily sit on it safely if he chose to do so. But of course, sitting is boring for our little man! So instead, he decides to crawl on top of it and see if he can balance himself in a crouched position.

Today of course, he decides to do one better! Not only has he mastered climbing on it he has now mastered standing straight up on it and getting himself back down safely! I couldn't safely get a picture of his face in the last shot to show you how proud he was of himself, but he is definitely grinning!

And here I thought him walking was going to give me a heart attack!!

This is going to be short as I have a slew of things on the go and naptime is just about done....

We had a lovely visit with Nonee, Papa and Zia Ang yesterday. They braved the Grey Cup traffic to attend the One of a Kind Show and then headed our way for a mid-afternoon visit and dinner, which allowed Papa and Sebastian to share some more quality football time together.

After dinner and bath Sebastian enjoyed some down time perusing cookbooks with Zia Ang before bed. It was amazing how long and contently he sat looking at the cookbooks before giving everyone their goodnight kisses and snuggling in for the night. It's nice that it doesn't take too much effort to entertain him. However, with that being said, I think he really enjoys spending time with his family and we appreciate the fact that they enjoy spending so much time with us!

Wishing everyone a happy beginning to the work week and hoping you are all staying dry,
Kim

So here it is, a short clip of Sebastian walking for all to see. It's not the best video by any means, but it's definitely the shortest (the rest are close to 2 minutes long and I don't have the patience to wait for them to download!). Enjoy!

It's official!! Our lil' man is walking!!

We knew on Monday that it wasn't going to be much longer before Sebastian started walking. On Monday Sebastian began to stand up on his own without using anything to help him. He took a few little steps but they were more like little shuffles so we didn't count them as actually walking. He continued doing this throughout the week and seemed to enjoy himself immensely while doing so.

So tonight when we returned home from work/daycare Sebastian decided to not just take one step, but many steps! It was amazing! Secretly I have a feeling Evelyn knew he was walking but I'm thankful she didn't tell us... it's like sharing the first snowfall of the year with your baby. It only happens once in a lifetime and I'm so happy that both Jamie and I were home to experience it with him.

I will hopefully upload a video of him walking soon for everyone to see. For now I just put up a picture of Sebastian is his "hoodlum" outfit as I like to call it, courtesy of Shawn's parents Gayle and Doug...and of course, my Grinch toque. I thought the pic was too cute not to share.

Anyways, I hope everyone has a good weekend. We have a busy weekend planned of swimming, doing some holiday shopping, getting together with a few mommy friends we know and their babes and heading to Guelph on Sunday to celebrate Jamie and Nana's birthday. Should be a fun-filled weekend!

Cheers,
Kim

It's a blustery Tuesday so I thought I'd take some time to write a quick update on what we've been up to.

Sebastian spent both Thurs & Fri last week at Evelyn's from 8:30 - 5:30 while I worked. It was okay, but on both days by around 2 p.m. I was missing him and wanting to leave work to go and pick him up.... But of course, that didn't happen.

I also realized that I am extremely impatient at the end of the day sitting in traffic when all I want to do is go and see Sebastian. It takes me about 1/2 an hour to get from work to Evelyn's in rush hour. Which sucks since it's only about 5 kms away. However, I realize that being in a rush isn't going to get me there quicker and on Friday Sebastian didn't even want to leave when I showed up!! I knew that was going to happen one day, but so soon!?!? Of course, I didn't take it personally... who can blame the kid? He was outside playing with his friends and was having a good time so when I showed up it meant playtime was over. And we chatted about his day all the way home (it's amazing how much he is talking. Not actually words per se, but vocalizing as if he's having a conversation. We have ourselves a regular chatty cathy...or charlie... heh, wonder who he gets that from?).

On Saturday we missed swimming for the first time this session as Sebastian was napping (daycare wipes him out). After his 2 1/2 hour nap we had lunch and then spent the afternoon going for a nice walk and playing at the park (the pics posted are from our outing to the park). In the evening after Sebastian went to bed Jamie & I actually managed to go out on a date! We went to a nice Greek restaurant to celebrate Jamie's upcoming birthday and then came home - nothing too fancy but nice all the same. Special thanks to Papa & Nonee for coming into Toronto and letting us have a night out! I think we're going to have to do this a little more often (hint, hint!)!

Unfortunately we did stay up much too late Saturday night as we were awoken at 5 a.m. the next morning by Sebastian. Seems he didn't get the notice that he should be giving us an extra hour of sleep! We then spent our Sunday relaxing, doing housework and having brunch with Jon & Marion, which was really nice since we haven't seen them since Sebastian's birthday.

I've been sick with a cold since Friday (hit me Friday aft. around 3:30p.m....figures, not even back to work for 2 full days and I get sick!) so yesterday was pretty low key. Sebastian caught up on his sleep, which is always nice and we basically just stayed at home and played. This morning we went to our Gymboree play class prior to running some errands to pick up a few things we needed for this evenings festivities. We, meaning Sebastian & I, have a few things planned for Jamie in celebration of his birthday today (Happy Birthday once again to a wonderful husband and dad!!), but since there's a chance he'll read the blog prior to this evening I'm going to have to leave it at that... can't give away any of our surprises! =)

Cheers,
Kim

Happy Hallow's Eve!!!

I absolutely love this time of year. The air is crisp, the leaves are turning and the smell of winter is in the air. Except of course, it's 17 degrees Celcius
today...but regardless, I love this time of year!

Sebastian and I spent our Hallow's Eve morning at his very first Hallow's Eve party at the drop-in centre. He was wearing his skeleton costume pictured above and now that we're home I put him in his bat onesie. It has a cute picture of a bat on the front and on the back it says, "bats are not scary".

I'm not too sure how we're going to spend the rest of the day.... Sebastian has been napping in the afternoons so we'll hopefully be able to get out to the park after naptime to enjoy the weather & our new stroller (I love you Bob!!), but other than that, I think we're just going to hang low, put up some more decorations outside and await the evenings festivities. Of course, Sebastian will be missing out on a lot of the action since he's in bed by 7 but I'm hoping to put him back in his skeleton costume for a little bit during the dinner hour so we can answer the door together.

I hope everyone has a terrific Hallow's Eve and remember the veil between the two worlds is at its thinnest tonight so light those lanterns and put out lots of food - your ancestors are going to be hungry !!!

Halloween Wishes,
Kim

I have been having difficulty attaching Sebastian's art project to my post dated Friday Oct. 19th. As such, I figured I'd just post it here. So, here it is! Sebastian's first project...he did the scribbles on the bottom!!!

Today we spent our day visiting with Kim, Christa and Griffin and taking a trip out to Knox's Pumpkin Farm in the Oshawa area. It was fun watching Griffin run around and get all excited to see the animals, whereas Sebastian just seemed to relax and chill while going for a ride on his dad's back (thanks to Kim & Christa for letting us use their backpack carrier...Sebastian really seemed to really like it as he was able to look over his dad's shoulder and was eye level to us).

In the barn Sebastian was able to hear a cow actually moo and I was happy that it didn't frighten him at all. Jamie & I were able to pet the cow to show Sebastian how friendly such a big animal can be. Later to make up for not being able to pet the cow (we couldn't get him close enough...) Jamie took Sebastian to pet a tree and a tractor. Not too sure what Sebastian thought of either as I heard about this after the fact!

We then walked through the corn maze and eventually went on a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch. We had the option of getting off the tractor to pick our own pumpkins but we chose just to continue on with the ride. Since we don't get many kids at our house for Hallow's Eve I think we're just going to carve up the pie pumpkins I purchased from the market last week. Next year we'll get a larger pumpkin for Sebastian that he can help clean out! I can't wait!

After the farm we return to Kim & Christa's where we relaxed with fresh apple cider and strudel. Griffin is so good with Sebastian and it's so cute listening to him say "Bastian". Right now I think he's going to be the only person we allow to call him that!

Anyways, it was such a great spending time with friends and the weather was perfect! And I'm sure we are all going to be sleeping well tonight!

Hope everyone has a great week!
Kim

Today marked Sebastian's very first time at his home care providers without me. I dropped him off shortly after 8:30 a.m. and he just stared at me as I backed down her driveway trying my best not to cry. I've been in denial for a long time that I'm going to have to put my trust into another person to care for him so that I can return to hell...err, I mean work, but I guess I can't deny it any further. And it's true what people say... it is definitely much harder on the mom than it is on the child. Sebastian didn't even cry!

Once home I managed to wash some of Sebastian's toys, throw some laundry in the machine and sweep & mop the kitchen floor. I then had some coffee and relaxed on the computer before heading out to Canadian Tire to do some shopping. It was really enjoyable being at Canadian Tire on my own, but it wasn't the same without Sebastian. I wasn't able to go "zoom zoom" with my cart or act all silly & such. Well, actually I could have done that but I chose not too...

I then went to meet up with Evelyn and the kids at the Ontario Early Years Centre. Upon entering my heart sank when I couldn't find Sebastian but I was then told that he was in the washroom with Evelyn. It took him a sec or two to register that I was there but when he did he almost leapt off of the change table!! Which was great except for the fact that Evelyn was trying to put a new diaper on him and his bum was bare! Lesson learned: if Evelyn is changing his diaper, wait until she is done.

We stayed for a bit at the centre to sing with the group and listen to a story and it was really neat to watch Sebastian sitting in Evelyn's lap. He would look at me and smile but it just reinforced that we picked a great caregiver for him. So, as much as I feel Sebastian should be with me and that work can take a hike... I'm glad to know that he's in such good hands.

As we were leaving Evelyn also gave me Sebastian's very first craft. When I have a moment I'll take a picture of it and then add it to this post. I think it's supposed to be a ghost.

Now let's just hope that I continue to handle our separations well! I have no doubt that Sebastian is going to be just fine.

And of course, the lil' pumpkin is fast asleep after being tuckered out from this mornings events. He fell asleep in the car on the way home and has been out since 11:45...1.5 hours at this moment.

Anyways, I hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend. We have swimming tomorrow and then we're off to Oshawa to go to the pumpkin patch with Kim, Christa and Griffin on Sunday. Looks like the weather will be amazing on Sunday... 21 degrees. Crazy!

Cheers,
Kim

I've been feeling quite delinquent lately in the blogging department, so I apologize to those who actually read this blog on a regular basis. I just don't seem to have a lot of energy at the moment, so I'm going to keep this entry short with the hope that I may actually be able to have a nap while Sebastian is napping today (for those who know me, this is nearly an impossible task... I never nap).

Sebastian had his one year check up late last week and no concerns were noted. He got his usual beautiful baby comments from the staff and wait room patrons as we waited and I must admit, I will never tire of hearing people tell me what big beautiful eyes this boy has! I was surprised to find out that he only weighs 19lbs 11 oz, but I guess he makes up for it in height as he's 31.75" long! The good news is that since he's still under 23 pounds I can keep him in the rear facing position in the car for a tad bit longer. He fits all the other requirements according to the manufacturer to turn the car seat around, but since facing the rear is ultimately the safest position for a baby we're going to keep him that way for as long as we can!

On Saturday we went to our Guardian swim class where Jamie & Sebastian took to the water while I sat with the other dad's and watched. Sebastian is such a water baby... he doesn't seem to mind any water on his face and he loves standing on the edge of the pool, with Jamie's help of course, and jumping into the pool. He also loves to splash and kick his legs and has been dunked numerous times with out seeming to mind at all!

On Sunday we had a lovely visit with Jim & Christine (a.k.a., Nonee & Papa). We celebrated Papa's birthday by taking a trek downtown to MEC and returning late in the afternoon to have a wonderful dinner topped off with cheesecake for dessert. Yum! Sebastian had not been on the subway for quite some time, and since most stations are not wheelchair accessible I usually put him in the ergo baby carrier when we go, so he had some difficulty adjusting to being on the subway in his stroller. I'm sure us going "choo choo" didn't help either as anyone who's been on the subway knows that it doesn't sound like a real train! Oh well.. he was much more relaxed on the way home.

Hope everyone is well,
Kim

Life sure is fun with a one year old!

The big birthday has now come and gone and we marked the occasion by having family portraits taken in the morning and spending the afternoon visiting with Nonee and Papa. Uncle Dan joined our festivities for dinner and the singing of Happy Birthday and Shawn came by after his soccer game in the evening for cake and ice-cream. Jamie bought me beautiful flowers to mark the occasion and overall it was a terrific day!

Since his birthday Sebastian is now napping only 1x/day. Prior to this he was napping in the morning for approx. 1.5 hours and then another 1.5 hours in the afternoon. In the past I would stay home in the morning in order for him to have his coveted nap (I'm not one of those mom's whose baby's schedule is dependent on what the mom wants to do...). But since he's gone down to one nap I have been finding it much easier to plan our day. For example, yesterday we spent the morning at Riverdale Farm and on Tuesday we were able to get to the Farmer's Market bright and early. Even with longer naps in the afternoon he still continues to go down for the night around 7 and he is continuing to sleep through the night without any difficulties. No complaints here!!

A lot of people have been asking us recently if Sebastian is walking yet. He's not yet walking independently but he can walk around with little assistance, usually just holding one of our fingers on each hand for support. I'm hoping that by the end of the month he has taken a few independent steps, but that's because I'm selfish. I am returning to work part-time on Nov 1st and there is no way I want his first steps to occur at his caregivers home! I'm just going to tell her not to tell me if it happens! Ignorance in this regard is bliss!

Anyways, the reason why I sat down to update the blog today was to give a quick update on the activities that a one year old Sebastian enjoys. So enough of my ramblings on about how cool it is to have a one year old... this is basically what our lil' pumpkin enjoys doing at the moment:

• taking the dishtowels and pots & pans out of our kitchen cupboards (this will entertain him for a long time... he takes out the dishtowels one by one, gives them to me, I say "thank you" and it sounds like he says "you're welcome" and when they are all out, we put them back in and the process repeats itself. For the pots & pans, we just bang them and put various items in them to see what neat sounds they make and of course, we have tons of fun seeing who can bang them the loudest!)
• playing ball, in which he will throw the ball to us and we will roll it back to him
• repeating what we are saying to the best of his ability
• pretending to talk on the phone
• playing with his musical instruments, including banging/drumming various objects together
• placing different items into various things (i.e., wooden objects into his plastic pail) to see what fits and what noises they make when they get stirred around.
• imitating actions to songs (i.e., clapping his hands as soon as we started singing "If you're happy and you know it")
• giving lots of sloppy kisses
• playing in the sandbox and being pushed on the swings
• playing with his wooden tractor in which he drives it along the floor saying "vroom vroom"
• getting to the front door as fast as he can to see the bus stopping across the street from our house as well as to watch any emergency vehicle speed by as soon as he can hear their sirens (at which point he imitates the sound... it's so nice having our own little fire engine!)
• and of course...walking around with our assistance!
  

I'm sure there are tons more to add, but these are the major things that put a big smile on his face at the moment.

Well, Sebastian just awoke from his nap so I am off to start our grand adventures of the day. These include having a delicious lunch of lima beans (I put that there for Jamie - he is not fond of lima beans!), carrots and banana, a trip to the store to buy swimmers for our swimming classes that commence this Saturday and then hopefully a visit with our mommies & babes from the public health group we attended last winter.

Hoping your day is filled with playful moments,
Kim

In 40 minutes it will officially be September 19th and my little boy will be turning one. Jamie keeps reminding me that Sebastian will not technically be one until 5:14 p.m... However, it's still Sept. 19 and he's still going to be one. Next year he's going to be two. And the year after that 3. You get my drift... I'm an overly emotional mom who is saddened by the fact that her baby will never be a baby again. Of course, he'll always be my baby, but that's a whole other topic!!

Considering the time though, this is going to be short. I just wanted to give a quick update on the wonderful birthday party Sebastian had with our friends at East Lynn Park (where the picture taken above is from). Although it was not exactly a warm day, our friends braved the chilly weather to spend time celebrating with us and we really appreciated their company. Sebastian is so lucky to have such wonderful people in his life!

And last but not least (and really the whole reason why I'm blogging...) I finished the birthday quilt!! Woo! Woo! My first quilt is done! Of course, I still should quilt all the letters of the alphabet but the squares and borders are done so technically it's done (even though the backing isn't on and the outside edge still needs to be done - but that's nonee's job!)!! And with only 40 minutes until Sebastian's birthday!!

Well, I am heading to bed. I hope everyone has a wonderful September 19th. I know we will!!

Kim

"WARNING: Some re-assembly of priorities and beliefs may be required."

I saw that quote while perusing through this month's Canadian Living. There is a picture of a baby and the quote is on their hospital bracelet and I couldn't help but think about how true and how fitting this quote is at the moment. I've been finding that as the days creep closer to Sept. 19th I've been doing a lot of thinking about how Sebastian's birth has changed my life. I'm not prepared to get too overly emotional or anything like that on this blog, but I am going to sit down and write him a note to go into his scrapbook/photo album that he can read when he gets older on this subject. The only word I can use at the moment to describe any of it is "raw". And it's not necessarily a bad thing, but it is very different from anything else that I have ever experienced... and it's weird how such a little being can have such a huge impact.

However, I actually wanted to blog again because I forgot to mention yesterday that Sebastian had his very first birthday party on the labour day weekend in Fort Erie. We went down on Saturday and stayed at Shari & Dave's where we were able to spend some time with the kids, whom we hadn't seen since they returned from Austria, and then on Sunday we went to nana's for dinner. The above picture is one I took of Sebastian having his very first piece of cake. I will be attempting to bake him another cake for this upcoming weekend when we will be having a birthday party for him with friends, followed by his actual birthday on the 19th. Nonee, Papa, Shari, Dave, Kassandra and Jeremy are also planning on coming in to celebrate the day with us on the 19th. It should be fun!

I had also forgot to mention that the picture of Sebastian in the spiffy red stroller in my last post is just one of the presents he got from his grandma and grandpa. It's the Quinny Zapp and it's a great little stroller for zipping around and very compact, and we've had tons of compliments on it. We still use our Peg Perego for our major outings though as the Zapp has no storage basket, but again, if you just want to get out for a walk it's absolutely amazing.

Well, I gotta run...time to get motoring to get to our Gymboree music class (and of course, Sebastian is currently napping!!) Hope everyone is having a good Monday!
Kim

Only 10 more days to go until Sebastian's first birthday!!

So, the countdown continues but I really wish it would slow down as I have a ton of stuff to get done before he can turn 1!

I've been working on my very first quilt that I am making for Sebastian for his birthday that will hopefully get done in time but I'm not counting on it. I find that most evenings after Sebastian is down for the night and we finally have dinner I just want to veg and working on a quilt is not vegging at the least! Oh well...it is my goal to have it done so I will be spending the next 9 nights quilting away!! Oh joy!! (it's actually not too bad once I get going...but it's a killer on my back).

I'm also trying to compile a scrapbook of my pregnancy as well as an album of Sebastian's first year, but these aren't going to be completed for his first birthday celebrations. I am going to wait until I get the pics from all his birthday parties (yes, I said all - the kid is having 4 separate parties!!) before I put the album together. Hopefully by Christmas these will be done.

I am also planning on taking Sebastian to try out our first Gymboree class on Monday. While I was pregnant I had planned on doing some of their music classes with Sebastian but it wasn't possible until now with his napping schedule. Of course, knowing my luck he'll nap for 2 hours in the morning on Monday and we'll miss class (he has a very uncanny knack for doing this!)

We also signed up again for swimming lessons through the City. Sebastian absolutely loves the water so Jamie & I will be alternating taking him in the water on Saturdays starting at the end of Sept. and continuing straight through until November. We're hoping his little friend Natalie will be joining us too. I actually find it interesting to reflect on all those things I wanted to do with Sebastian while I was pregnant and what we actually did. I never did take him to Movie for Mommies but that was mostly because I didn't care for the movies they were showing and he was never the type of baby that actually slept when I wanted him too! We also never did Strollercise and that was because I didn't want to pay to walk around a park when I get out a number of times a week with Sebastian. Of course, I don't do situps or anything like that when I'm with Sebastian but I'm okay with missing out on that!

Jamie's been working with Sebastian on beginning to walk but I don't think he's quite ready to start walking on his own quite yet. It's actually quite cute. Jamie will put a blanket around him like a harness and hold him to assist him in walking. Sebastian really enjoys it and has such a huge grin on his face. He's also reminding me daily of all the little things I need to do to baby-proof our house. I actually thought we had everything covered, but I was wrong (won't be the last time I'm sure!). Now he's using his toys to reach things on our entertainment unit, which made me realize that his next adventure will be climbing on the entertainment unit. So our t.v., which has yet to be wall mounted, is not going to be safe regardless of whether it's on the wall or not! I'm actually quite proud of him for figuring out all these little things but it would be nice if he could just slow down a bit!

Well I'm beat but since I mentioned the quilt I'm going to have to complete the last few squares before bed (I then just have to do the border and all 26 letters of the alphabet! It can be done in 9 days, I'm sure of it.)

Hope everyone had a good weekend.
Kim
p.s., Who am I kidding? Maybe the quilt will be done by Thanksgiving?
p.p.s, Okay...Jamie's birthday...it will be done for Jamie's birthday!!

I'm having a bittersweet moment...or at least, I think that is what you would call it.

Today I have begun the countdown to Sebastian's first birthday. 19 days to go! And today marks Geoff and Pierrette's first ultrasound where they get to see their lil' bean (or two???) for the very first time. It reminds me of how excited and happy Jamie and I were when we caught our first glimpse of Sebastian and how it wasn't until that moment that I fully accepted that there was another living being inside of me. It doesn't seem so long ago but yet it was.... my little baby is going to be 1 soon and Geoff and Pierrette are just about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime and I don't know where the time went. Okay. That's not exactly true. I know where the time went, I just wish it didn't go by so quickly.

Of course, I also realize that the fun has only just begun and that we have so many new things to look forward to. For example, the other day while I was feeding Sebastian dinner he was looking outside at the bus across the street when he looked at me and said "bus"! Now, the "s" wasn't pronounced so it was more like "bu", but it was "bus" all the same as he looked at me with that "and just how proud of me are you?" look on his face. Twenty minutes later when the next bus rolled up, he looked at me and said "bu" again! So now we have "bus" to add to the list of words he says!

Sorry this is such a short update but Sebastian is napping and I have a slew of things to do before he awakes! We are heading to Fort Erie to celebrate Sebastian's birthday with my family this weekend so hopefully I'll have time to provide an update on the birthday festivities when we return.

Stay safe.
Kim

Happy 11 months Sebastian!!!

Today we celebrated Sebastian's 11 month birthday by going out to brunch at Relish, a lovely restaurant up the road from our house, followed by a shopping trip to Future Shop where I picked up The Tick Season 2 for myself and Jamie purchased the dvd Sin City for himself to celebrate our son's day. =)

This past month has been marked with a lot of change for Sebastian. He is moving non-stop and his teeth have finally decided to come in (his second has just broken through!). Sebastian loves to sing and dance and one of his favourite activities at the moment is standing up by the fridge and playing with his Leap Frog Alphabet. He will often attempt to sign the letters of the alphabet along with me while we sing our ABC's. Sebastian has also just started to sign the words for "more" and "milk" and whenever he hears a dog bark he says what sounds like "dog". I say that it sounds like he's saying dog only because the "g" is never quite pronounced, so we're just assuming that he's trying to say dog as he always makes the same sound after we see and/or hear a dog!

Another thing that Sebastian loves to do is stand at the front door and yell/sing at whomever and whatever is passing by. As a result, Joseph, the shopkeeper from across the street, will often come out of his (in)convenient store and wave to Sebastian. I don't know what it is about Joseph, but Sebastian breaks into big grins and giggles whenever he sees him! It's actually quite sweet. Sebastian has also evoked waves from people on the bus that stops directly across the street as well with his antics. We're so lucky to have such a social butterfly!

We've also noticed that Sebastian likes to switch up how he moves around. For example, depending on the surface he is on he will either commando crawl, crawl or do the crab walk (where only his feet and hands touch the ground). We noticed the crab walk for the first time last weekend while we were in Binbrook celebrating our cousin's birthdays. The grass was quite parched and Sebastian would not put his knees down so he ended up moving about on his feet and hands. At home, depending on where he is, he will either crawl or commando crawl. Most times he will crawl while on the carpet but on the hardwood floor he will commando. If he's wearing pants, then he will crawl. It's actually quite amusing to watch him switch from commando to crawling and vice versa without a pause! I don't even think he realizes what he is doing!

Sebastian also had his first haircut this past month. I actually just snipped the "wings" from the back of his head last weekend so it wasn't anything too fancy but it was monumental all the same. I'm just glad that I didn't hurt him in the process, and that it is not noticeable that a parent cut his hair!

I could go on and on talking about Sebastian, but I won't. At least not anymore today. =) I still can't believe that there is only one more month left until he turns one, but I'm not going to talk about that now... I'm still looking for the pause button!

Hope all is well,
Kim

It's been such an exciting week and it's only Wednesday!!

This has actually been a week of "firsts" for us. To begin, Sebastian's first tooth finally decided to surface on Saturday (Aug. 4th)!! Although we have been waiting since he was 3 months old for a tooth to arrive, and thus, not entirely surprised, we were surprised by the sudden appearance as his demeanor has been pretty much the same. This was somewhat shocking to us as we expected our passionate lil' boy to announce to the world that a tooth was breaking through with much wailing and mayhem. But alas, it just wasn't meant to be. But hey, we're not complaining whatsoever! We're happy our little man wasn't too affected by his first tooth and am hoping that the rest of them come in so easily.

Sebastian also surprised me by climbing up the stairs today in pursuit of our cat Tabs. Please note that I didn't say that he crawled up the stairs. No, in fact, he did indeed climb as his knees never once touched the ground!! Needless to say, the safety gate that has been sitting down in the basement waiting to be installed will be permanently installed tonight!

We're also in the process of planning Sebastian's 1st birthday bash. Jamie and I were wondering if anyone knew how we could turn back time? If so, please let us know... or maybe I should say, let me know. I'm looking forward to the 1st birthday but I am already sad thinking that the first year is almost at an end. Just a poignant example I guess about high quickly time flies and how important it is to enjoy the many special moments you have with your loved ones now.

And last but not least, good friends of ours have announced they're pregnant! Not exactly a first for us, but definitely a first for them. They aren't too far along at the moment and I don't believe they have told everyone yet, so their identities will remain a secret for the time being. But with that being said, congrats to them both and we send big hugs and congrats!! Can't wait to meet their lil' one in March!

Feeling nostalgic,
Kim

Who's Your Momma?

I'm your Momma!!

This morning after my shower I peeked into Sebastian's room to find Jamie & Sebastian sitting in the big comfy chair relaxing. Sebastian saw me and while doing his usual "I'm so happy to see you giggle" exclaimed for the very first time "Momma!!!".

It was unbelievable... Not only has he never called me Momma before (or anything else for that matters!) it was totally in context too! Of course, he hasn't said it since this morning, but that's okay... it's the little things in life that make me happy. =)

Hope you have a day filled with little special moments too.
Kim

We just came back this past Saturday from having a wonderful week at the cottage. Our friends Kim, Christa and Griffin joined us for the first 4 days of our holiday and we had a lot of fun just hanging out and watching the kids play. Griffin, who is 2, was great with Sebastian and it was a lot of fun walking downstairs in the morning to hear Griffin exclaim "It's theBastian!". Some of our fun activities included going to Balm Beach, swimming in the lake, watching Griffin try fishing for the first time (the fun part was actually watching his mom's having to deal with the icky wiggly worms and having Christa retell how Griffin learned that worms wiggle when placed in his mouth!), hiking at Wye Marsh and spending time with our Aunt Lynda and Uncle Vince at the cottage and at Awenda Provincial Park, where Jamie was able to roast some marshmallows (I don't think I know anyone else who enjoys marshmallows as much as he does!).

Sebastian also had his 10 month birthday while we were away and it was fun to reflect on how much things change from month-to-month in the life of a baby. Last month he was scooting around the floor commando style, but now he's crawling (but still prefers to scoot) and pulling himself to stand on everything. With our assistance he's even taking a few steps and it's interesting to observe how he has begun to manipulate and play with his toys differently. For example, he has 8 stacking cups that he used to bang together. Now he has begun to place different objects into the cups to see what sounds they make when he shakes them. Sebastian is also much more vocal and loves to sing and dance. It's so cute to watch him wiggle is bum whenever a tune comes on.

Well, as always I am writing this during naptime and it is almost done. Today is Tuesday, which means it's Farmer's Market day so after Sebastian awakes from his nap we will be heading to the market to meet up with our friend Irene and her little girl Natalie (who's a few days younger than Sebastian) to have a picnic and to buy some fresh produce. It's overcast so hopefully we won't get rained on!

Cheers,
Kim

As I'm writing this Sebastian is upstairs having his afternoon nap and I'm sitting on the couch munching on carrots and hummus. Yum. We are currently, or shall I say I am, in the midst of getting ourselves prepared to leave on Saturday to go the cottage for a week. My co-worker James has been gracious enough to rent out his cottage in Tiny ON (Penetenguishine) to us and we're going to be joined by our friends Kim and Christa and their little boy Griffin for the first few days.

As this is our first official family vacation with Sebastian we are really looking forward to getting out of the city and spending time relaxing with him. Right now the only things we really have planned is to go into Awenda Provincial Park and visit with our Aunt Lynda and Uncle Vince one afternoon as well as travel to Midland to the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre. Other than that, you will find us at the lake directly across from the cottage or just lazying about and playing with Sebastian. I can't wait!!

I'm also looking forward to Jamie being able to experience the fun and enjoyment that I get by spending my days with Sebastian. Right now Jamie only gets about 2 hours a day to spend with him, one hour in the morning and an hour before bed, and it will be so nice to see him have the time to enjoy Sebastian as much as I do. Not that he doesn't enjoy his time, especially on the weekends, but the weekends go so fast!

Speaking of our lil' pumpkin, because I do realize you don't read this to hear about how I'm doing (!!), he's doing great. Sebastian has now started giving out kisses, albeit very sloppy open mouthed ones, and he is now beginning to develop his own sense of humour. It's really neat to watch him do something and then look at me with that gleam in his eye before he starts to laugh at his own actions. It was amazing this week when I realized that I was actually sharing a laugh with my son for the first time!

Well, nap time is almost over. We're going to be spending the rest of the afternoon with friends at the splashpad. Hope everyone has a good week and since the laptop is staying home (a week without the computer!!) I will hopefully have a nice update on our vacation when we return!

Stay well.
Kim