Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
We had a wonderful day here. We spent the morning at home with Sebastian and my parents, and in the afternoon drove out to Greenlawn to have dinner with the Raabs. We dressed Sebastian up in red, and mom and dad bought him a Santa hat.

Pictures of fig bread, wandering around Rockefeller State Park, and Christmas Day, all here.

Sebastian in motion!

A video of Sebastian during tummy time, kicking his legs and lifting his head.


Sebastian lifting his head from Brianna Avery on Vimeo.

Happy Holidays!

We spent yesterday in the thick of baking - a chocolate turtle cake and the beloved fig breads. Mom has made fig bread for Christmas every year I can remember. We would wake up on Christmas morning, open our stocking presents, and then have tea, fig bread, and oranges, before turning to the rest of the presents under the tree. I started making the bread 3 or 4 years ago.

Sebastian continues to amaze and delight. He loves to kick his legs and wave his arms around, and he's starting to lift his head up when he's on his tummy. He's now able to go 3 or more hours between eating, which has made life (and sleep) much easier for us. I've posted some new pictures on Picasa.

We went out for Chinese food last night and Sebastian slept through the whole thing- nary a peep out of him - and today we returned for a hike at Rockefeller State Park through which he also slept. We'd last been there 7 weeks ago, when I was very pregnant, to do some leaf-peeping. It was considerably icier this time around but still beautiful. The Stone Barns Center for Agriculture keeps pigs on the property adjacent to the state park, so we took our little piggy to see some other pigs rooting around.

first video!

Sebastian and Popo playing from Brianna Avery on Vimeo.

George the Giraffe

major accomplishments

Here in the Avery/Raab household, also known as Sebastian's lair, we have some big news to report. Big as in baby weighs 12 pounds already! :) I am delighted that he managed to wait until he was out in the world before packing on the pounds.

Mama finally screwed up her courage and managed to clip baby's fingernails yesterday, after earlier attempts at biting (too many hangnails) and filing (ineffective) failed. No blood to report, and no crying by either party. Phew!

We have started giving Sebastian regular baths. The first one began with a shocked scream from baby, followed by a stream of pee aimed right at Daddy's face, after which he settled down swiftly and seemed to enjoy things. I have a picture, but am not sure of the propriety of posting pictures of poor Sebastian's nakedness in a public blog.

He is rapidly becoming much more aware of things - he can focus on a face or an object for a bit longer and loves to stare out windows and at lights. The Christmas tree, with all its tiny white lights, is a particular favorite. In the last few days he has discovered a passion for sucking. We tried to appease him by offering him his own hand or our pinky fingers, but that didn't last long. Yesterday we made an emergency pacifier run and so far, it's a hit.

Last night, while enjoying some tummy time, he managed to push himself up on his hands and stare around a bit, swiveling his head from side to side. And then he rolled himself all the way over onto his back. Steve and I crowed with glee. (Sebastian looked very surprised.)

And that's about all the important, earth-shattering news I've got on this happy Tuesday morning.

Argh! Eaten by the hippo!

Sebastian getting some tummy time, and being swallowed by the hippo (made by my mom).
There are more pictures of the hippo and Sebastian around the house on our Picasa gallery.

where do the days go?

Sebastian is 3 weeks and 5 days old! It feels as though the days simultaneously fly by - I never seem to manage to get anything done - and are very slow and sleepy - with hours spent on the couch, feeding the baby.

We're all doing really well. Sebastian weighed 9 lbs 10 oz when we visited the doctor this past Tuesday, which means he's been gaining a pound a week. He's really filled out - both his clothes and his cheeks (he has chins upon chins).

I've posted more pictures.