new high chair

 
Sebastian is starting to outgrow some of his infant gear - the BebePod seat is just the first to go. He still fits into the little chair, but he can get himself out (toppling forward and straining backward) far too easily. So we bought him a TrippTrapp high chair and tested it out yesterday. It lets him sit at the table with us and will later act as a booster seat.

I can't believe how fast he's going through things - next to go is probably the car seat, and then the Baby Bjorn carrier. We've started investigating new convertible carseats, backpack carriers, and lightweight strollers. But what to do with the old stuff? We haven't got a garage or attic (or even a spare room) in which to put old stuff, and I'm rapidly colonizing all the space under our bed.

:(

In a bid to break his daddy's heart, this weekend Sebastian decided that he would no longer quiet down and go to sleep for his dad. Every time Steve tried, Seb cried louder and kicked harder. Then when I picked him up, he would calm down and allow me to cuddle him to sleep. Poor Steve felt very rejected.

On the other hand, when Steve came home from work tonight, Seb started giggling and laughing the minute he saw him. He laughed more in 20 minutes than he had all day for me. This differentiation between us is new.

6 months!: more foods, more teeth, more mobility

We visited the doctor yesterday for Sebastian's 6-month checkup. The time has flown by so quickly - such a cliche, and yet Steve and I really feel amazed at it. Half a year already!

Sebbe is growing by great leaps and bounds - he's 27 1/2 inches tall, and 16 lbs 8 oz. His height is in the 90th percentile. Our giant (albeit skinny) boy. (I am eagerly anticipating the meet-up with cousin Danica in June - who will be taller??)

As my title suggests, he's continuing to change in all kinds of ways. His second tooth, also on the bottom gum, followed hard on the heels of the first one. So far he hasn't been very bothered by them, and he's only bit me twice. We've introduced him to pears and to oatmeal, and just today to peas. Pears are by far the favorite - he went after the bowl with mouth gaping open and hands grasping. Apples and carrots and bananas and avocado are all coming up soon. It's so exciting and fun to think of feeding him our food and experimenting with different things. Mealtimes are about to become a lot messier, though - after our pea lunch today, he was a green monster, with peas all over his hands, arms, bib, onesie, face (the eyes!), and hair. To say nothing of the chair, the tray, and all of my clothes. And here I'd been thinking that nursing was occasionally messy!

He's continuing to experiment with crawling motions - today he got his bum high in the air and both legs under himself very briefly. He has started to figure out leverage - using table legs and the crib bars to move himself around. We moved his crib mattress down a level last weekend, fearing that he'd learn how to pull himself up one night. And changing his diaper has become a wrestling match, as he's constantly trying to turn over onto his belly and reach for the various things on the table. We've had to learn how to change him while he's on his stomach, which is really awkward and funny.

Happy mother's day!

 

My first mother's day as a mom... and thus (of course) the first one at which I began to grasp the faintest glimmer of everything my mom has done and been for me. (I love you, mom!)

We went out to Greenlawn to see Grandma and Grandpa Raab and the rest of the family. We got some great shots, especially one of Sebastian, Steve, Grandpa Raab, and GreatGrandma Raab. They're here.

alimentary musings

 

 

For a few days there, Sebastian had a new trick - he would turn his head to the side and look at whatever had his attention from a 90 degree angle. He always tilted his head to the same side - the left. He isn't doing it much anymore, but I did manage to get a picture of it.

We introduced pears this morning, which were, unsurprisingly, a huge hit. Sweet and yummy. Yesterday, his body finally got through with processing the sweet potatoes that we'd introduced on Sunday. For those of you with children, you know what I'm about to remark upon, and those of you without will probably find this utterly disgusting. (Which raises the question - who am I writing about it for???) Anyway, he had the most amazingly orange poop yesterday. Bright orange, with undigested sweet potatoes, and a much stronger smell. I can already tell I will soon miss the innocuous milky poop that he's emitted up till now. And I can't wait to feed him some green food and see how that looks! :)

We've got some new photos up.

a tooth!!!

Our baby boy has cut his first tooth! It's on the bottom gum and is just peeking through. He's been a bit fussier than usual this week, but not terribly upset by it - he has slept much the same as usual.

What a big week - his first solids and his first tooth!

solid foods!

We gave Sebastian his first taste of solid food on Sunday morning. Rice cereal, mixed with mama's milk. He chowed down like a champ. Well, maybe that's an exaggeration - he got it all over his face and his bib and the table. Who knows how much actually made it down his throat? But he was enthusiastic, and kept coming back for more. It was great fun for everyone.


Boy Eats Rice from Brianna Avery on Vimeo.

he's a roller!

Sebastian is becoming much more mobile and curious. He's learned to roll from back to front very easily (almost too easily, as he's always flipping over in search of things). He sometimes manages to get from front to back, but his arms tend to get in the way and he finds it hard to roll over them. But when he's on his belly he kicks his legs like mad, occasionally hitching up his bum and planting a knee. Most of the time his arms are straight back, like Superman flying, but sometimes he uses them to prop himself up and look around. All in all, he really wants to move, and we fear/hope that crawling is not far off.

He's been learning other new things too. He has started sticking his tongue out, tasting the air. He has a new frog face - he eats his lower lip and then lowers his chin into his neck - very funny looking. He has been exploring new surfaces by patting them with his hands multiple times. He'll do it in his crib or on his playmat. He no longer lies flat while we are changing him, but arches and twists to look behind himself and grab for things. He is giggling more and more - both more loudly and more often, usually in response to Steve's antics. And he has been eating his toes very enthusiastically. In fact, he's even tried to eat the toes and socks of his baby friends (from my moms group).

In the less happy realm, he is becoming more willful about his feeding. He's been refusing the bottle the last week or two. He squirms and cries and twists around and generally tries to avoid it. I try for awhile, until one of us gets too tired of the business, and then return to nursing. At that point, he gets the most blissed-out expression on his face, and for good measure uses his hand to pat my chest. But we're working on it.

happy birthday GreatGrandma!

 

Sebastian and I drove up to Massachusetts to see Great Grandma Avery for her birthday. Seb also got to meet Dennis and Karen, Peg and John, and Tessa and Elliot. It was grand. More photos are in the April 2008 folder on picasaweb (click the gallery button on the right).

playground pics!

 

 

 

More new ones are in the gallery.