Mr.Independent/Daddy's Boy

Lately Sebby has become Mr.Independent, venturing off into new places the minute you put him down and beginning to "play better" on his own. Even if playing on his own means getting into things like crazy, its been awesome seeing him gain an even greater interest in engaging with the world around him.

One of the cutest things he has been doing lately is reaching out to touch the people sitting beside us on the subway.

Thankfully most of these people find this as cute as I do.

He likes to be on his feet whenever possible.

"Hey look over there!"

Along with the new independent streak, he has also developed an intense interest spending time with Daddy! The minute he wakes up, he is calling "da da da" and continues looking for him throughout the day. During the afternoons, he waits on pins and needles for "Dad" to get home, looking towards the door at any noise he hears outside our flat. He wants to eat only what he sees Daddy (like chicken legs off the bone!) and grapes, of course. He wants to do what Daddy is doing and go wherever Daddy is going...this morning he wanted to go to work with him so holding my hands, he followed Daddy out the door & down the stairs (this boy has NO fear!).

It's so cute to see my two boys playing together! Sebby enjoys the loud noises and playing the rough games that Daddy invents and Momma enjoys a bit of a break when Daddy is around. 

This is definitely a fun new stage for Daddy, who is used to being of interest for only a few minutes of playtime every day. These days, the whole day is playtime and Daddy is of interest all day except right before bed or whenever Sebby needs to be comforted. For those two things, Momma is still the go-to-gal.

I am so grateful that Sebby has both of us parents around so that he can benefit from our unique strengths as he spends time with each of us!

Visit With Ah Mah & Yea Yea

We were blessed to have Ah Mah & Yea Yea (Darren's parents) visit us in Scotland for a few weeks. Sebby enjoyed an opportunity to spend some quality time with his grandparents. Here are a few highlights:

Sebby wasn't sure what to think of Yea Yea at first but he warmed up quickly. In fact, he really enjoyed teasing Yea Yea once he got to know him better. He would shake his head "no" when Yea Yea asked to hold him, make silly faces at him or pretend to offer him food or toys then take them away just as Yea Yea would reach out to take them.

Ah Mah spent a lot of time playing with Sebby and they had tons of fun! On our day trip to Edinburgh, he fell asleep in her arms on the train. We were amazed because he hasn't fallen asleep in our arms in months! She said her secret was singing to him.

During our weekend in Oban, Sebby hung out with Ah Mah & Yea Yea on Sunday afternoon while Momma & Daddy took a nap.

Hanging out with Yea Yea & Ah Mah on the last day of their visit.

We will miss them!

Next time they see Sebby, he'll be walking without help. He's growing up so quickly!

Celebrating Sebby's 10 Month Birthday!

Yesterday I made flourless chocolate tortes (for Darren & I) in celebration of Sebby's 10 month birthday. We feel so blessed by our little guy and we are really enjoying watching him grow.

 

Sebby is becoming so much more interactive! Over the past month, he has learned to wave, give high fives and make kissing noises when we say "kiss."  So adorable! He also says "more" when he wants more food. When he gets really excited, he waves at random objects or waves both hands in the air.

We have fun swinging at the park, walking and blowing bubbles. We went swimming once but it was a bit challenging because as soon as I put him down to get stuff organized, he was escaping out from under the door of the cubicle. So we're waiting till Daddy can come with us next time. He enjoys a nice long bath before dinner every day, though.

He looks forward to when Daddy arrives home each day, looking towards the door every time he hears a noise in the hallway. When Daddy finally comes in, Sebby smiles and squeals with excitement. 

A huge milestone from the past month is that Sebby has learned to self soothe. That means that he can usually fall back to sleep on his own when he wakes up in the night. Occasionally, he needs our help to settle down again but this is a huge improvement! He can now last the night without nursing which gives us all an opportunity to get a bit more sleep.  

 

This month we did a two day trips (Stirling & Edinburgh) and one weekend trip (Oban) and we are so thankful that Sebby continues to be a great little traveler. 

He is no longer content being in the carrier the entire day but he still does great. Daddy enjoys carrying him and exploring together.

  

Sebby's eczema has been flaring up a lot less and as a result, he has begun eating a lot more in the past month. He is beginning reject plain steamed food in favour of things with more flavour, especially if he sees us eating it. We're surprised by some of the foods that he has recently tried and enjoyed like figs, grapefruit and orange juice. Yesterday ate asparagus except the tips, which he spit out! He also tried Yea Yea's (Darren's Dad's) rice noodles with chicken, carrots, bacon & curry powder and loved it (who wouldn't?!). Grapes are still his favourite but chicken is a close second, followed by baked cauliflower.

He's becoming more mobile by the day, getting more steady on his feet and faster at crawling. Nothing within his reach goes untouched in our house and there are finger prints on every wall and door in our house to prove it! He gets on his tiptoes to reach things and crawls and gets stuck under chairs, tables and beds (he cries for me to come and rescue him when that happens). He loves to use all of his strength to unplug cords and put them straight into his mouth.

Sometime he sneaks into other rooms to eat cords or climb up on the heaters or play with the dials on the heaters. He can also reach the oven control buttons now and loves to push all of them...thankfully he can't turn the dials to switch on the oven yet! Sometimes he is content to sit in his highchair watching me cook but often he crawls around the kitchen, trying to get into cupboards that are off limits or eat fruits and veggies that don't taste that great when you eat the skin...clementines, onions, garlic or bananas.

Sorry for the super long post but what an amazing month we've had!

Enjoying My Sleepy Guy!

Today Sebby woke up at 5:43am. Oh how I wish he would sleep later! I went in at 6am to nurse him and thankfully he (and I) went back to sleep until 8:30. Rushed out the door 15 minutes later, almost missed our 9am appointment with the herbalist!

He was yawning all morning so I put him in for a nap at around 11 but he woke up 20 mins later. Soon  (maybe 40 minutes after he woke up?), he was whining and puling at my shirt...one of the ways he tells me that he wants to nurse. So I started feeding him and wuthin 5 minutes he went back to sleep.

I should have promptly transported hm to his crib and got on with my day: laundry, tidying our room or exercising but I didn't. I'm sitting here with a sleeping Sebby in my arms because I won't be able to do this much longer and I'm sleepy too! I don't feel like hanging out the laundry just yet.

"Hello Sebby!" He just stirred & popped opened his eyes. Guess that was the missing 25 minutes from his shortened first nap. I'd better go because he's ready to start "helping" me with this post! (This morning he removed one of the keys from my keyboard! Cleaning it in his mouth I think??).

A Great Day & An Even Better Night

Yesterday afternoon we braved the pouring rain and took our first day trip to the neighboring city of Stirling. We had a lovely time touring the old city and the castle. 

 Sebby was an excellent traveler as usual. Here he is fast asleep in the carrier.

  

We arrived home around Sebby's usual bedtime so we gave him a quick bath before putting him to bed at around 8pm. Amazingly, I didn't see him again until 6:45am!!! I could hardly believe it! 

Sebby slept through the night for the first time in his life!

The only unfortunate thing is that apparently I've forgotten how to sleep through the night! I woke up almost every hour after midnight, wondering if the monitor was turned down too low or if I wasn't hearing Sebby for some other reason only to realize that he was still sleeping.

Hoping he keeps up the full night sleeps & that I remember how to sleep through as well.