Christmas 2009 Recap

Well, we made it through our Christmas vacation. Overall, Sebastian did very well. Our flight out and back were rather uneventful, though he didn't like being confined for a whole hour. Then again, I don't care for it either! He did a great job at my parent's house, despite the shared sleeping quarters with us, and his very first tooth coming in. We started most mornings very early, and luckily could get him downstairs to the basement rather quickly and keep the sleep deprivation down to a minimum.

My mom and dad got lots of baby time in, they really enjoyed playing with Sebastian, and him with them. My dad had Sebastian giggling all the time, and Sebastian loved playing with his Grammie, mostly because he wanted to pull her hair. We also got a few visits in with my brother's family, and Sebastian got to play with his cousin Amalia. She has really grown up quickly since the last time we saw her back in the summer. It's times like this that make me really wish we were closer to them all. Sebastian also got to finally meet my brother Matt and his girlfriend Saana for the first time.

Our trip was topped off with a chance to visit my cousin Bobbi Jo and her girls (all 5 of them!) and a night out with some old friends from high school. We certainly squeezed a lot into a few days. I do have to say that traveling with an 8 month old is quite a pain especially with the weather causing extra burdens for coats, scarves, gloves, hats... ugh.

Now we're back home and Sebastian is happier than a pig in "you-know-what." He seems to have really missed his toys and the cats. He managed to sleep rather well last night as well, even with the teething causing him some discomfort. In all, Christmas 2009 was a great success.

The picture in this post is the result of a family photo shoot we did on Sunday. I will post the link to the Picasa online album once I get it cleaned up and ready for viewing.

Ready for Christmas!

 

Where has this year gone? We are in the final countdowns to our first Christmas as a family. We certainly are excited, but we know that Christmas 2010 will be far more exciting. Sebastian just hasn't grasped the concept quite yet but he will still have a great time we're sure.

We have been venturing out a bit more over the past two weeks. As is typical, there are a lot of holiday events and parties to attend. We went to a party last weekend, last night and have dinner and a show with friends tonight. Thank goodness for Todd's family, we have three babysitters that have been able to help out: Todd's mother, his brother and his niece.

We went to the Columbus Zoo to see the annual "Wildlights" display. It was beautiful but poor S fell asleep before we got to see too much of it. We'll add that to the 'must do' list for next year for sure. Tuesday (12/22) we leave for my parent's house. We will spend from 12/22 to 12/28 with them for the holidays. I can't wait to be near my family again for a while and give S some time with his "Grammie and Pop-Pop."

We want to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS and check back here to see how our trip went.

Sebastian Met Santa!

 

Our good friends the Alcorns had their annual Santa party on Saturday, December 5. Sebastian had his first chance to sit on Santa's lap. He did a great job, no tears at all, and though we didn't understand what Sebastian was saying I am sure Santa got all his wish list down.

The "little" guy is really growing fast these days. He has mastered crawling, and loves to pull himself up and stand at tables, the couch or any other object he can reach. He manages to "cruise" around the entire family room now and thanks to us moving some furniture really has a great play space. We also moved the rug and ottoman out of our upstairs living room, giving him a huge area for his Jeep walker.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Well, it is hard to believe that Thanksgiving 2009 is already behind us. We had a nice day overall, visiting with Todd's family in the evening after a quiet early day home together. Sebastian was the hit of the party especially with the other kids. Everyone wanted to hold and play with him. I had to watch closely like a nervous parent, but they all did fine with him. He didn't mind the attention at all!

Another Embarassing Bathtub Picture

 


Our "little" guy certainly isn't so little any more. At his pediatrician visit last week he weighted 20 lbs and was just shy of 30" in length. Recently he has discovered how to clap when he is happy or excited, which is so cute, and he is crawling and climbing all over everything, which while cute, also makes being with him a lot more demanding.

We finally had to give up his "newborn" bath tub. Even though it had a side for bigger babies, we never did use it. To do so we would have risked hitting his head on the kitchen cabinet near the sink. He also has gotten so "kicky" in the tub lately that the kitchen floor looked like we had a flood after each bath. This is really much better, even if the bending over the side of the tub kills our backs.

The countdown to the holidays has begun. It sure will be great to celebrate our first Thanksgiving and Christmas together as a family.

ADOPTION FINALIZED

We got a call late last evening from the wacko attorney, the adoption decree has been finalized and is on its way. Vital statistics has been notified and our official birth certificate should be forthcoming. We couldn't be happier to have this finally over with.

Someone asked how we'd celebrate. I said "Oatmeal cereal, butternut squash and maybe some pureed mango for dessert."

Long Time No Blog

 

It has been a few days since our last post; it feels like a lot longer than it actually has been. This past week was extremely busy for me at work, including a long drive to the Cincinnati area and back that cut into the free time. As you can see in the picture, Sebastian is continuing to develop very quickly, he is now sitting up for longer periods of time on his own, and has just about figured out how to go from being on his belly to sitting up. It is only a matter of a few days before he gets the hang of it.

He has two new "tricks" that he is doing recently. Todd taught him how to turn the ceiling fan light on and off in his room by pulling on the chain. It has gotten to the point that if you enter or leave the room and don't turn the lights on/off he gets a little upset. I guess he will be a conservationist if nothing else. He has also learned how to clap when we clap along with him. He gets so excited and loves to do it. I love that he can see me do things and mimic them now.

He has a pediatrician appointment on Friday for vaccines and another general check up. We'll have to go back 2 more times in the coming weeks for his flu and H1N1 follow ups. That's a lot of shots for the little guy in a 2 month period! Too bad we couldn't have timed them a little better, but better this way than not at all.

We're excited about our first holiday season as a family. This year Thanksgiving will be spent here in Ohio, and Christmas in NJ with my family. My middle brother and his girlfriend will be home as well, and we are looking forward to them finally meeting Sebastian.

One last thing- we have been playing with a new nickname for Sebastian; we call him Sea Bass. Cute, right? We'll see if it sticks...