Let it Grow!!

I can't believe that it's only been a couple of weeks since I last posted! Funny how 2 1/2 weeks can seem so long in toddler-life! Things have become increasingly busy for us now that the warmer weather is gracing us with her presence. Since the last post we've been to the Zoo twice, Riverdale Farm once, we've spent a weekend in Guelph to help celebrate Aunt Becky's 30th birthday and yesterday we took an impromptu trek down to Fort Erie to spend Mother's Day with family.

I've also been introducing Sebastian to one of my favourite past-times during the past couple of weeks... gardening. Sebastian started to show some interest last year in the garden but it was mainly him pulling up plants, playing in the dirt and smelling our herbs. Now that he's a tad bit older I thought it might be neat for him to have his own plants. This started off with me purchasing a seed kit of cat grass for him as well as his own gardening tools.

For these kits all you have to do is fold down the sides, insert the dirt, plant the seeds, water and voila in days you have sprouts! Perfect for little fingers and so much fun to see grow! I loved this little seed box so much that last weekend I bought two more for him and we're anxiously waiting for them to sprout. We'll probably just re-pot the cat grass and leave it in the house for the cats and the other two containers are sweat peas and parsley. I had picked up two metal buckets/bins at a yard sale and filled them last year with herbs so I'm going to allocate one of them for Sebastian, with the hope that next summer he can help pick out what he wants to grow.

Fill in the Blanks 2

Wow. It's amazing how a few months is all it takes to notice subtle differences in Sebastian's comprehension. I had previously asked him these questions a few months back and today I asked him the questions as they are stated and these are his answers:

The capital letters are where he answered the fill in the blanks:

I can drive a truck. I can carry... BOXES.

I can work outside. I can be a... WORKER.

I can work in a store. I can sell... PEAS.

I can make things. I can make... FLOWERS.

I can help people or animals. I can be a .... FIREMAN.

Ode To Chewbacca

"Chewbacca is my very nice friend
Oh I love him so much!
And if I don't he have teeth
And Chewbacca loves me a lot"

Easter

We spent the Easter weekend in Fort Erie where we celebrated my nephew Jeremy's 12th birthday on the Saturday and then participated in the family Easter activities on the Sunday.

Colouring Easter eggs

For Jeremy's birthday the kids coloured Easter eggs prior to going on an Easter egg hunt in the park. Sebastian was absolutely thrilled to be running around the park picking up eggs, all which had a special surprise waiting to be opened. After the hunt we returned to Aunt Shari's and had pizza, cake and ice-cream. We were pleasantly surprised that with all the birthday festivities Sebastian managed to fall asleep at his normal time... which was great seeing that he was up at his normal 6 a.m. the following day!

The hunt!

Easter was spent with a lovely pancake breakfast and egghunt followed by an excursion to Aunt Helen and Uncle Roger's house where we had another Easter egg hunt and visited with our cousins Tricia, Michael, Leanne and Jon and their little ones, Noah, Joshua and Olivia. We then returned to Aunt Shari's where we had an Easter dinner with Aunt Shari, Uncle Dave, Kassy, Jeremy, Sophia, Uncle Dan, Nana, Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Linda, Uncle Vince, cousin Kelly, Aunt Lynda, Uncle Bob, Bill, Patty and Stacy. Dinner and company was wonderful and although Sebastian was quite drained from not having a full nap he perked right up once the desserts came out (go figure!).

Easter morning. Very excited about finding an egg!

Overall it was a pleasant weekend spent with family and on Monday Sebastian napped from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.!! To say he was a tad bit wiped out would be an understatement!!

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And one last thing to share...I've been telling Jeremy since I can remember that he wasn't allowed to sit in the front seat of our car until he was 12 (unknown fact by many, but legally children can't sit in the front until they're 12). Jeremy remembered. So of course since he was now 12 I honoured my statement and he was finally able to sit in the front seat of our car. Since he's been waiting soooo long for this day I wanted to commemorate it with a pic just for him. Love you Jer! xoxo

Question Period

Haven't blogged for a few weeks so I thought I'd do something a little different. The following has been going around Facebook for quite some time now and I thought it may be interesting to actually answer the questions and post it on our site for Sebastian to see one day.




34 weeks


1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Yes

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Excited and Nervous

4. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 31

5.HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Pregnancy test - I had uncharacteristically snapped at Jamie the previous day and figured if I wasn't pregnant then something was definitely wrong with me, so I picked up a test and voila!

6. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Jamie

7. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? No

8. DUE DATE? September 25, 2006

9. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Not really. I had nausea but I never vomited.

10. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Milk, peanut butter cups and fruit... A LOT of fruit!

11. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Nothing much. The loss of my ankles at 5 months along was pretty irritating but overall, I loved being pregnant!

Putting my feet up at work and running the risk of not getting my shoes back on! I'd only see my ankles once a day...first thing in the morning.

12. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? Boy

13. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? Never – I was happy with whatever gender the baby was as long as they were healthy

14. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 30

15. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes

16. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew

17. NURSERY THEME? Don't really have a theme – it's yellow and green with accents of blue

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? Nothing really except swollen ankles (see #11).

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Toronto East General

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? 24 hours, 14 minutes

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Jamie

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Jamie, 3 midwives, doctor, pediatrician, and nurse

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? See #20.... after 12 hours of back labour I welcomed the relief

27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 8lbs 12 ounces (midwife was about to put him on the scale and I told her how much he weighed - I was right!)

28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? September 19, 2006 @ 5:14 p.m.

30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Sebastian James Whitehouse (the first)

31. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 2.5 years

Happy un-Birthday!

Today we have reached the 1/2 way mark until Sebastian's 3rd birthday! Yes, it's official. We now have a 2 1/2 year old!

So since this is a momentous occasion for us I thought I'd take the time while Seb is napping to write a quick blurb on the things our little man is doing....

- Is approx. 38" long
- Weighs approx. 28lbs
- Sings and enjoys making up his own songs
- Runs, jumps, climbs
- Uses scissors (but not while running, jumping or climbing!)
- Speaks in full sentences
- Knows his colours, counts, ABC's etc.
- Loves playing with his wooden Thomas the Train set
- Sleeps on average 11 hours within a 24 hour time period
- Loves to cook and help out in the kitchen, including setting the table and putting things in the dishwasher!
- Almost potty trained
- All of his teeth are in and/or pretty much in
- Gets upset quickly and will hit and/or throw things
- Very sensitive; his feelings get easily hurt when other children are not being nice
- Loves going to Sportball, the library and his music class
- Does not like mud on his hands!
- Helps get himself dressed in the morning - puts his head through the shirt and his arms in the sleeves
- Brushes his own teeth
- Drinks from a regular cup, uses regular utensils, plates etc.
- Loves Spiderman and singing the Spiderman theme song but doesn't really have an idea as to who Spiderman is (except that he's a super-hero!)
- Loves Cars, the movie that is, even though he's never actually seen it!

Okay...this list is getting too long. Basically Sebastian can do a lot of things... he's no longer a baby and will often tell us that he's a big boy. In fact, we often have difficulty at times remembering that he's a pretty capable little fellow but he will kindly remind us if we attempt to help him out too much!

I'm still in awe watching this little guy and can't believe that we're heading out of toddlerhood so soon, but that's okay...one thing I've learned is that things definitely get better the older he gets!

Wishing everyone well,
Kim

Look Out! Here Comes the Spider-Man!!