Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Jamie - I admire so many things about you, your work, your many accomplishments, the things you value... But one of the things I love the most about you is how terrific you are as a dad. We are so lucky to have you!
Love Kim & Sebastian xoxoxo

And wishing all the Dad's our there a wonderful Father's Day!!

Then & Now

Definitely not the most attractive of pics, and of course I'm not talking about Sebastian, but I just had to share. The first pic was taken on Dec 28, 2006 when Seb was just over 3 months old and the second pic was taken yesterday. Needless to say, neither was posed. He may not look too much like me, but he sleeps like me!

Frog Pond!

About two weeks ago now I decided to be adventurous and go on a trek with Sebastian on his new balancing bike. The bike isn't too new per se, as we purchased it around Easter time, but he's been slow to taking a liking to it since it's so much easier for him to push along on his tricycle. However, as I've been encouraging his use of the bike I decided it would be neat to go for a long walk to the mailbox, which entails just walking along the path behind the houses on the next street over.

Anyways, it was quite the adventure. As there's a downhill leading on to the path Sebastian dismounted his bike and started skipping merrily along until he landed flat on his face! Luckily he didn't hit his head and with some kleenex and a water bottle I was able to wipe up the blood. He now has two skinned knees and an elbow and I thought for sure he'd just want to come right home, but I was pleasantly surprised when he said no. So we continued on our journey to the mailbox with an hour's break at the pond enjoying the frogs (and a turtle that we spotted).

It was a great morning, hot but not too hot, and I thought I'd take the moment to share some of the pics as well as a video of Sebastian saying hello to a frog that I thought was pretty cute/funny.

Chatty

I don't know if I've ever posted this video before or not, so I probably should go through the blog to check...

I was just going through our pictures, looking for ones of our old garden, when I came across this gem. It was taken on Sebastian's 19 month un-birthday and I absolutely love what a little chatter-box our little guy was! Of course, you have to forgive my singing!

Happy Mother's Day to Me!!

This is so shameless....

But I am pleased to announce that via momsrising.org I won the Mother of the Decade Award!

And considering that Sebastian isn't even close to being 10, this is such an accomplishment! My acceptance speech will soon follow!

Snappity-Snap: Milestone Marker

Just a quick post to make a note of another milestone that Sebastian has accomplished - snaps!

As of yesterday, Sebastian is able to snap up his own pants. In the past, he would independently use the washroom and then would require assistance in doing the snap to his jeans. So yesterday he's in the washroom and the next thing we know, he's out and his pants are fully snapped! He was so proud of himself, and so he should be, especially since we've never attempted to teach him how to do up his snaps. We had just assumed, and correctly I guess, that he would figure it out when he was ready to. Way to go Seb!!

Lullabies

Since Sebastian's birth we have had a pretty consistent bedtime routine, in which Jamie will bathe Sebastian etc., and after having read the bedtime stories I will then sing Sebastian lullabies as he nurses/cuddles (at which point Jamie also lies down and falls asleep!).

Well, as I've been singing pretty much the same lullabies for so long I thought I should write them down so that Sebastian would have a record of the songs that were sung to him. I often change the words to make them more meaningful to us, and quite enjoy trying out new songs, however, I've consistently sung the following:

Hush Little Baby
Take Me Out to the Ballgame
My Sebastian Lies Over the Ocean (sung to the tune of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, in which I've added the following lyrics as a second verse):
Sebastian's the cutest little boy,
The cutest little boy I know,
Sebastian's the cutest little boy,
And I love him so
You Are My Sunshine
Rock A Bye Baby, in which I've changed the last two lines to:
And mommy will catch you, cradle and all
Bicycle Built for Two
Sebastian's Lullaby (*sung to the tune of Brahm's Lullaby) :
Go to sleep and goodnight
It is time to go to bed
It is time to lay down your head
And go to sleep.
Close your eyes pumpkin pie
It is time to go to sleep
Close your eyes pumpkin pie
And have sweet dreams all night.
Ba Ba Black Sheep
By N' By (*one of our favourites, but instead of singing "Good Lord" we sing "Good night")
And of course, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to place him in bed and tuck him in, in which for the second verse I sing:
When the blazing sun is gone
When there is nothing to look upon
Then I'll shine my light so bright
Guiding you throughout the night
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
How I wonder what you are.

Some nights we only get through a few and on others I sing more lullabies. But these are the ones I've been consistently singing to him since birth. I consider these our special songs and I really treasure this time with him, especially since I know it won't last forever.