Seb Rolls!

I'll admit that some days I don't "tummy time" when I'm home with Seb although I try to remember every day. When he was smaller, I found it difficult to do because he began protesting almost as soon as I would set him down so I would have to be right there to distract him. Thankfully, Darren was really disciplined with putting Seb on his chest every morning and giving him a few minutes on the floor almost every evening. 

 
Darren & Seb's hard work paid off last Wednesday when we saw his first tummy to back roll!

It was so cute to see him teetering on his tummy then just flip right over on to his back. It seemed so simple and almost accidental, he just happened to have his hands in position above his head so that he was clear to roll.

Darren was so excited to see Sebby roll that he clapped loudly & exclaimed, "Yay Sebby!" which was enough to scare Sebby so much that he started crying loudly. Some friends said that the first roll was so traumatizing that they didn't see another until a month later so I was really excited when he rolled three times in a row yesterday!

It's so much fun to watch Sebby learn and develop new skills! This week he also giggled for the first time. Can't wait to see what he does next!

Seb's Third Month

Seb had a very eventful third month of developments that was worth celebrating with a first try in the Jolly Jumper! He LOVED it and so did we!

Travel

Unfortunately, Seb still very much dislikes his carseat, especially for long trips. Our theory is that he either gets bored or tired and then annoyed because he can't fall asleep in there (too bad he wasn't like his Daddy!). He was pretty excited to try out the big boy seat in his stroller. He is now happier for much longer in the stroller.


Strength

Seb learned to hold up his head this month and as a result, he is liking tummy time much more. Daddy worked hard to help Sebby develop his neck muscles and is very proud!

Sleep

His record for consecutive hours of sleep is now 6 hours, however, it varies quite a bit from night to night. We were thankful for how well he slept during our stay at the hotel in Toronto, at least 5 consecutive hours each night!

It's Time To Sleep, My Love

"It's time to sleep, it's time to sleep,"

the fishes croon in waters deep.

The songbirds sing in trees above,

"It's time to sleep my love, my love."

"It's time to sleep, my love."

We picked up It's Time To Sleep, My Love on Sunday evening and as soon as I saw it, I feel in love with the beautiful pictures and sweet rhymes. I decided to make this Sebby's bedtime story!

I noticed that since turning three months, Seb's ability to sleep anywhere had diminished and so had his ability to sleep longish stretches at night. He began waking every 2 to 3 hours and by Friday, I had hit a wall of tiredness.

That morning, I resolved that it was time to begin putting serious thought into helping Seb (& me) get more sleep. Over the past several days, I have been pouring over books and websites to the point that my head is still spinning with information overload but at least for now, I have chosen to focus on a two key principles that I believe are true:

Babies need a lot of sleep!

Some sources say that babies Seb's age should be awake no longer than approximately 2 hours at a time before going back to sleep since there are serious downsides to them becoming overtired! They become cranky, sleep for shorter time periods and have a harder time falling asleep.

Babies crave routine & consistency.

Routine is an order in which things happen and doesn't necessarily have to be tired to the clock (phew!) but it helps babies know what to expect and to cope better with changes.


So we made a few a LOT of changes in our lifestyle over the past several days and have seen drastic improvements in a very short time!


1. I began to pay very close attention to tired signs and have been amazed to discover that Seb often begins to get tired within a half an hour of wakefulness!


2. I stopped putting Seb in the carrier to go to sleep! I now try to put him down in his bassinet for every nap. This means temporarily canceling almost all plans that take me out of the house so that we can be at home for his naps.

3. As soon as he starts to show tired signs, I begin our newly-designed bedtime routine. Ours is pretty simple: read a book, swaddle,  nurse & put down.

4. I'm working on putting Seb to bed earlier in the evenings, even if that means eliminating evening activities, at least for the time being.

Reading It's Time To Sleep, My Love before putting Seb to bed puts things into perspective for me! It nearly brings tears to my eyes as I read it because it reminds me of how much I love him and how these sacrifices to my social life are so worth it for the health of everyone in our family!

PS: It's Time To Sleep, My Love is illustrated by Nancil Tillman and written by Eric Metaxas.

Seb's Ontario Visit

Seb had the opportunity to meet many of our friends during our time in Ontario. These are just a few of the special people that Seb got to meet...

  

Meeting Noelle, Jordi & Heidi's little one.

Hanging out with Auntie Maria & Uncle Nathan

 

Visiting with Uncle Hansen

He enjoyed spending extra time with his Daddy too!  

 

We look forward to returning to Ontario this summer to hang out with more of our friends!

Strollin'

Today it was 8 degrees and sunny... I love Calgary winters!

This afternoon, Darren got out the stroller seat and we gave the stroller another try. Up until today we had only ever used the stroller with the bassinet or carseat adapters, however since Seb really dislikes being in the carseat so we ended up using the stroller very infrequently this winter. Now that he is almost 3 months and his head is pretty sturdy we though he was ready for the big boy seat!

Look

I love our Quinny!

Looks like Seb loves it too!

Spending Time With My Siblings

Being at home was so much fun. I really enjoyed spending time with my siblings (everyone was around except Paulette) and their kids. Since I have been living away from home for 10 years now, I had fun observing the unique interests and personalities of my siblings as they interacted with Seb ...

Anna - My youngest sister, age 3

She loved giving Seb big kisses and singing to him when he was crying, "Oh baby, oh baby, oh baby!" or "Sebby, Sebby, Seb, Sebby Webby..."

People often thought she was Seb's sister when we would go out and would say, "What a nice big sister you are!"

Matthew - My youngest brother, age 10

Matthew was eager to test out his diaper changing skills on Seb. During our first few days in PEI, he changed most of Seb's diapers then the novelty wore off.

He was a great buddy to Seb! He liked helping him sit in the Bumbo chair since his neck isn't quite strong enough yet. He also spent time singing to him. Matthew tells me that Seb doesn't like Old Mac Donald Had A Farm nearly as much as the Korean version of Silent Night.

Emma - Age 12

Emma loves babies and was a great help. She would watch Seb while I napped, ate or did things that are difficult to do while holding a baby and knew exactly how to keep him content and entertained.

She also made me lunches to eat at night when I was up feeding Seb and brought me many glasses of water.

Jordan - Age 14

Jordan isn't as much of a baby lover as some of the other kids but he still enjoyed hanging out with Seb and was always ready to install the car seat and base whenever Seb & I we were traveling anywhere.

Patrick - Age 15

Patrick probably held Seb more than anyone else while we were in PEI, he loves babies!

My sister in law, Allie, had her baby while I was there and Krista and I wanted to visit but Bryce & Seb weren't allowed in the maternity ward so Patrick came to watch the two babies! He certainly had his hands full with the two babies but did great.

Kevin - Age 18

Kev (back row with grey shirt) wasn't around too much, he was busy with work and school, although he did hold Seb a few times. 

Bruce - Age 19

Bruce doesn't live at home anymore but came for two nights while we were home.

He spent a lot of time outside with the kids sledding (I went out for a half hour while Emma watched Seb, was lots of fun). I wanted to walk down with the kids to visit Helen so he pulled Anna & Cam in the sled while I carried Seb in the carrier (cause Seb hated the sled!).

Paulette - Age 21

She lives in Newfoundland so we missed her this time!

Krista - Age 23

Krista (middle, grey shirt) came over almost every day with Bryce and her two dogs! We had so much fun hanging out with them : going skating, to baby group, the pool, out visiting, etc...Bryce is eight weeks older than Seb and seems huge compared to him.

Derek - Age 25

Derek, his wife, Allison and their four-year old, Camdyn, recently moved back to PEI from Scotland and are staying with my parents. Their little girl, Isla Mae, was born while I was home so I was able to meet her too!

Derek was up early every morning so we would often hang out by the wood stove while I fed Seb. and would ask how "the Oriental baby" was doing every day.

Camdyn and Anna really wanted to help give Seb a bath. As we were about to wash his hair I told them that we should be careful not to get water in Seb's ears. Cam responded, "Yes or he'll DIE!!!" Ha, ha!

Cory - Age 27

Cory was busy with work and volunteering at the Scott Tournament of Hearts but he did manage to make it home for a visit. Seb enjoyed chatting with him!