Poo!!

Today Sebastian took his first poo in the toilet!! An odd thing to post about, but since we are also using this blog as a means to provide Sebastian with a snapshot of his life I thought it was appropriate to record the occasion!


You didn't seriously think I'd post a picture of it, did you?

'Splish 'Splash

To make up for all the lousy weather we have been having Sebastian & I have been hitting the splash pads and wading pools with a vengeance the past few days. We try to get out to the park at least once in the morning and again later in the afternoon. Here are some pics from our adventures:

Have you seen the muffin man?

We spent our morning at the East York Farmer's Market before heading to our play class at Gymboree. Since Grandpa's visit Sebastian has been talking non-stop about muffins (I think Grandpa gave Sebastian some of his muffin on Sunday during brunch). So the first thing we did when we got to the market was purchase some sweet potato muffins. To say that Sebastian enjoyed them immensely would be an understatement as strangers even commented on how cute he looked chowing down!! We also picked up some purple beans, sweet peas, raspberries, cherries, blueberries and herbs for the garden. I love market days... Sebastian and I have been grazing on fresh fruit and veggies all day!

22 Months!

Update #3

Yesterday we celebrated Sebastian's 22nd month birthday and I can't believe that in two months we're going to have ourselves a 2 year old!! Wow... Where did the time go??

So of course, here's my little update on what our Bazzy Jr, (As Sebastian will sometimes refer to himself as) is doing:

- Asking the proverbial question "Why?"
- Counting to 5 and attempting to count to 10 (currently skips the number 8)
- Sings a number of songs (i.e., "Twinkle, Twinkle", "Rock a Bye Baby", "Frere Jacques", "Roly Poly"
- Now telling us when he is taking a poo (toilet training here we come!!)
- Speaks in 4-5 word sentences
- Draws a picture and tells us what it is (i.e., drew a strawberry today and told me it was a strawberry. Thank goodness he told me - I would never have guessed!)
- Talks about loving people (i.e., "Sebastian loves Uncle Dan")
- Talks about his emotions (i.e., "Sebastian feels sad")
- Tells us when he's hungry
- Beginning to pick out his clothes when given a choice and is becoming more dependent in dressing himself (pulls his arms through and his legs without us having to guide him)
- Jumps, with both feet leaving the ground
- Sits on a regular kitchen chair as opposed to the booster seat

It's really hard to actually pick out all the wonderful and exciting things that Sebastian has been doing. I've always known that the mind was a sponge but you never truly comprehend just how much a little sponge can soak up until you see it for yourself. I love our lil' sponge-boy!!

Fort Erie

Update #2

Following our camping trip we came home for one night and then headed down to Fort Erie to visit with our niece & nephew, Kassandra and Jeremy, before they left on Friday for their dad's for 5 weeks in Austria.





















It was a great visit with the family and Uncle Dave even dressed up as a fireman for us! Okay, truth be told, he is a firefighter... but he had his gear at home so he put it on in the sweltering heat for Sebastian as he knows how much Sebastian loves fire trucks.




We were even able to persuade my dad to come back up to Toronto with us for the weekend. On Saturday my cousin Kelly came by for a visit and was gracious enough to play some violin for us. Initially Sebastian seemed a little unsure of the violin but he quickly became accustomed to it, especially since Kelly was able to play some of our favourite songs by ear. And it just so happened that my brother's band Fire Hydrant were playing on Saturday night so dad & I headed out for a night on the town. I can't remember the last time I was on Queen West on a Saturday night!

Camping

Well, I seem to have too many things to update so I'm going to be doing this in pieces...

Update #1, hence the title, is Camping.

We returned from a 3 night camping trip at Awenda Provincial Park this past Wednesday (July 16th). Jamie and I were both absolutely amazed at how well Sebastian did with camping. He was in a great mood for the majority of the trip and didn't have any difficulty sleeping through the night (he even slept through a severe thunderstorm!!). It was really helpful having Nonee and Papa around to help us out as it would have been difficult to get things done (i.e., setting up/dismantling camp, cooking, dishes) without them. Jamie and I are even contemplating taking another camping trip later in the summer.

Of course, it definitely wasn't the same as camping pre-Sebastian, but having a child with you camping just makes everything new again. I'm hoping Sebastian looks back one day when he's our age with as many fond memories of camping with his family as Jamie has of camping with his.

(Sebastian reading quietly as we set up camp)


(Cuddling with mommy during our first campfire)

(Sebastian's first roasted marshmallow!!)


(Playing with Nonee)



(Running to mommy)


(Napping during our 12km hike)


(Playing along the shores of Georgian Bay)


(Ice cream sandwich face!)


(Deciding he was leaving with our wood)


(Shhh... Fast asleep on our last night)

A camping we will go...

In one week today we are going camping!! Yippee!!

Jamie and I are both very excited to share something that we love doing so much with Sebastian. And we've even been able to persuade Nonee and Papa, who would rather hike and take their campsite off their backs as opposed to taking their campsite out of the car, to join us. As it's Sebastian's first time we're going to be only going for 3 nights but we think that if things go smoothly we may try to squeeze another camping trip in for few days in August.

Besides spending the weekend preparing for the trip we took some time out of our busy Saturday to take Jamie to Riverdale Farm. This is a farm located in the City that has a number of different farmyard animals (chickens, roosters, bunnies, turkeys, pigs, goats, sheep, ducks, horses, cows and a donkey - and silly me, I almost forgot the tractor that Sebastian loves so much!), and the best part about it is that it is free! Sebastian and I have been a number of times on our own, as it's a great way to spend a morning or late afternoon, but Jamie has never been. Sebastian seemed to quite enjoy taking Jamie by the hand and showing him the animals! Anyways, here are some pics from our day...

Happy Canada Day, eh!!

I have never been able to say that I am a big fan of Toronto, but I can say that every July 1st I am reminded of how small-town friendly our neighbourhood is and this alone, makes me almost like it (well, East York at least!)!

We began our day by heading over to our neighbour's annual Canada Day brunch, where we were served up drinks (at 9:45 a.m.!) and chatted it up with a number of neighbours, old and new, before walking to the corner to watch the East York Canada Day Parade.

Sebastian didn't seem to respond a lot to the parade. He clapped when I encouraged him to do so and he absolutely loved the firetrucks, but other than that, he basically just sat there and watched the action!

Following the parade we ventured on up to Stan Wadlow Park where we checked out the midway, said a quick hello to Michael, Danielle, Morgan and Leah before heading home to lunch and nap.

We should have known better, as of course, Sebastian decided to switch things up on us and didn't nap! I should have known better (I know, I've already said that). Anything out of the ordinary throws this boys naps off... so at about 2 p.m., after exhausting all attempts of a nap, we headed back to Stan Wadlow to check out and play in the firetrucks and take in a couple of the midway rides. It wasn't until we were walking home at approx. 3:20 p.m. that he fell asleep! We let him sleep until 5 p.m. (and actually napped ourselves) before we enjoyed a nice Canadian Day tradition of homemade burgers on the bbq. After dinner Sebastian was highly entertained by Rachel, the little girl who lives next door, before enjoying ice cream and settling down for the night.










All and all, it was an exhausting but very fun day!

Hoping everyone enjoyed their Canada Day!!


(if you are having a hard time seeing the pics, just click on them to enlarge)