I'm taking requests...

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday is that one of the ways that Sebastian and I like to pass the time is sitting on the couch together with the laptop between us. Sebastian will ask for an animal and I will show him pictures of whatever animal he asks for. Today we've looked at fish, dolphins, turtles and frogs. Most days Sebastian initiates this bit of downtime by trying to get the laptop from it's hiding place while mentioning an animal that he wants to see.


And a quick little health update... the fever is down and Sebastian is back to his normal self! Yippee! No trip to the clinic for us! =)

20 Months!

Today marked Sebastian's 20th month since making his grand entrance into this world. To celebrate his Nonee and Papa took the trek in from Guelph and Papa took some time, with daddy's help, constructing a sandbox for Sebastian. The sandbox is beautiful...more so for the fact that Papa made it for him and I'm really looking forward to getting outside in the next few days (provided it warms up!) to get some playtime in!

(hanging out with the birthday girl)

Unfortunately Sebastian didn't get much of a chance to explore the empty sandbox and watch the construction as our lil' pumpkin has been sick with a fever since last night. He was fine yesterday during the day, having enjoyed a trip down to Fort Erie to celebrate Kassandra's 15th birthday, but after dinner he was so hot I knew he had a fever. Sure enough, he had a temperature of 102 degrees Fahrenheit. The fever lasted throughout the night, having gone down a few degrees by the morning and remained for most of the day today. Since he does not have any other symptoms and he's not able to tell us exactly what hurts we'll be making a trip to the doctor's tomorrow if the fever persists through the night as we have no clue what type of infection his body is trying to fight. Despite all this, he did manage to enjoy his 20 month birthday in style today and was in pretty good spirits.

(Sebastian's "I'm so proud of myself" smile)

Which of course leads me to what a 20 month old Sebastian is up to. He is now speaking in 3 word sentences, for example saying, "I want Tabs" (our cat) and he has now learned the word "mine", which he tends to enjoy using a lot, and the word "no". We were very proud of the fact that Sebastian didn't seem to be one of those kids whose favourite word was "no", however, I think it's now caught up to him. However, we can't complain too much because when Sebastian says no it actually seems to be in context, as opposed to just saying the word no for the sake of saying no. As for his vocabulary we can't keep up on all of the words he knows and speaks. I think I could confidently say that he knows "lots" as Jamie would say! We're giving a ballpark guesstimate of over 100 words at this point... it's to the point that he just knows too many words to actually keep count. Which means I won't be providing another update on his vocabulary again! =)

Sebastian has also begun to recall past events and talk about them. For example, he's begun to tell Jamie when he gets home from work, when asked, what he did during the day and today he continued to talk about Kassandra, Jack (their dog) and the ice cream cake he had yesterday! Sebastian is also remembering songs and singing them. Not word by word of course, but enough so that we can at least recognize what he's trying to sing! And last but definitely not least, Sebastian is now jumping/hopping, with his feet actually leaving the ground. This is a new trick for our boy and bouncing around the front room has now become a favourite past-time of ours. It's little things like this that remind me just how much we take for granted and seeing Sebastian accomplish this feat for the first time was so special. I'm always beautifully amazed at how the little things mean so much.

(wearing Nonee's glasses)

Well, that's my 20 month update... I hope everyone had a safe, enjoyable and warm long weekend!
Good night,
Kim

Mother's Day

As I'm sitting here relaxing, after having a wonderful Mother's Day with Sebastian and Jamie, I was trying to figure out how to describe just how lucky I feel to have Sebastian in my life and how much, for what I believe, he has changed me for the better. In doing so I was reminded of this story that I came across a year ago on one of the pregnancy boards I had frequented. It does a much better job, quite freakishly close in fact, putting to words how motherhood has changed me. As such, I wanted to share....

Happy Mother's Day,
Kim
a.k.a., Mama Bear

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We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of "starting a family." "We're taking a survey," she says half-joking."Do you think I should have a baby?" "It will change your life," I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral. "I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations."

But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable. I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, "What if that had been MY child?" That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.

I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of "Mom!" will cause her to drop a soufflé or her best crystal without a moment's hesitation. I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood. She might arrange for childcare, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right. I want my daughter to know that every day decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that restroom. However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother.

Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs. I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor.

My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the way she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child. I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic. I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and drunk driving. I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts.

My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. "You'll never regret it," I finally say. Then I reached across the table, squeezed my daughter's hand and offered a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this most wonderful of callings.

Special Request...

Jamie requested that I post this. It was taken in September 2007 prior to Sebastian's first birthday.

Busy!!

Things here have been busy as normal. With the warmer weather finally descending down on us and signs of spring popping up everywhere (our tulips have opened!!) Sebastian and I have been busy doing what most kids do... getting dirty!!

Most of our days are spent doing some form of organized activity in the morning (i.e., going to our music class, Gymboree or spending time getting together with other mama's and their babes for a morning of play), followed by lunch and nap and then a romp in the park and/or backyard until it's time for dinner.

Afternoons in the backyard have been fun, even with the deathtrap that is the pond (we are currently in the process of getting rid of the pond and am hoping to get a nice sandbox for Sebastian to take it's place). Sebastian has also been very interested in playing in the gardens. What we've learned is that as much as we love our backyard it's definitely an adult oriented backyard that will need some fine tuning before Sebastian will be able to run amok in it. It also means I'm learning to be less anal about my plants and garden(yes, it's true!). Yesterday Sebastian spent a good hour taking the dirt out of the garden and spreading it along the flagstones. In hindsight we probably should have thought a little bit more about the house and how kid-friendly it was when we purchased it, but for those who know us, we don't subscribe to any of those so-called 5 year plans. But we're taking it in stride...I even bought Sebastian a rake so that he can help me with the garden work... and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll enjoy pulling out weeds as much as I do!! =)

19 Months!

Happy 19 Months to Sebastian! This is one of the two times that Sebastian will be 19 on the 19th. The next will happen on his 19th birthday.

We celebrated the day by going to our Rainbow Songs Music Class in the morning while daddy got his motorcycle out of storage, playing with our neighbours and then spending our afternoon playing with Leah and Morgan before taking a long stroll (Sebastian was napping) in the beautiful afternoon sun. It was a great way to celebrate the day.

Speaking of keeping track of things....

Sebastian put his finger up his nose today for the very first time!! Woo! Woo! Not only has he picked his nose for the first time (there was actually no picking involved...finger inserted straight up the nose, taken out and then inserted again) I have now immortalized the act for all to read on the blog! Now if only next time, if there is one, he'll stay still long enough for me to take a picture!

Surely I'll be rewarded greatly this Mother's Day for this entry alone! Ha! =)