pictures from Portland!

Carl has posted photos from Portland!
http://picasaweb.google.com/yarlcaver/FamilyInPortland

pulling up!

Sebastian has learned how to pull himself up to standing! He first managed it in his crib two days ago, but has since repeated the feat using the couch, his high chair, and various parental legs. Look out world! We think he was inspired by watching cousin Danica motor around all last week. He's also starting to figure out regular crawling (which is good, since Grandpa Avery said his first movements looked like a proto-creature, and Aunt Trish thought he was like a worm!). :)

We spent all of last week in Portland, Oregon, for a Mah family reunion. It was wonderful to see all my aunts, uncles, and cousins again, as well as my immediate family. We picnicked, hiked the Gorge, visited the zoo and children's museum, ate tons of food, and did some shopping. It was especially magical to watch the cousins play together, with increasing awareness of each other as the week went on. I have tons of pictures - 300 or so? - and will post them as soon as I can go through and edit them down to a manageable number.

In less fun news, I am back at work. Yesterday was my first day, and although I only stayed for a half day, it was very sad. I felt a bit like I was missing a limb. To add insult to injury, my work shoes, unused for so many months, gave me blisters. On the bright side, Grandma Raab is looking after Sebbe today, and early reports are good (they went for a walk, visited the pool, managed a bit of food...).

liftoff!

Liftoff! from Brianna Avery on Vimeo.

And Sebastian goes mobile!!
He's doing a sort of creeping/commando crawl, but he's definitely moving, and he's building up speed. Look out world! Early favorite destinations include the front hallway, with its shoes and bikes, the computer cord, the oven, and the garbage. But he is mostly using his newfound mobility to crawl into whatever room we're in. So if I leave him in the living room and go into the kitchen, he'll follow right after. He gives me a big grin and looks delighted when he finds me again, which is the cutest thing. I love it.

Of course, this means that we need to concentrate on making our home baby-safe. We've put in outlet covers and latched the under-sink cabinets that are full of dangerous substances, but have yet to figure out how to secure the tall bookcases or shield the radiators. Of course, I also have to concentrate on using the measures we've already got - I find that I often leave the latches ajar in my rush to do the next thing. And my habit has been to leave those child-safe lids half off - on the dishwasher detergent for instance - and that has to change.

my orchid

For once, shockingly, a piece of non-baby news. I've had an orchid on my windowsill for ages - it was flowering when Mom Raab gave it to me, but once that flower dropped off it's just been four leaves in a pot. But I've kept it around, and amazingly, it has budded and flowered!! I feel quite the gardener, though undeservedly so as I've mainly neglected it.

further food adventures

We gave Sebastian an apple quarter to munch on - he loved holding it in his hands and using his two little teeth to gnaw on it. He found the Granny Smith variety a bit sour, though. :)

summer time!

It's been terribly hot and humid here this weekend, so we visited the wading pool with Sebastian. He splashed, he watched the toddlers (warily), he fell forward onto his face. :)

We had to buy a membership in order to use the town pools, and found that the cheapest and most sensible option was to get Seb an individual membership - with us attending as chaperones. He got his picture taken for the ID card - his first official card! - it cracks me up.

baby food

Now that Sebastian has started eating solids, I've had to confront the question: home-made or store-bought? I didn't have a strong opinion on either side - I knew that I wanted to breastfeed the baby (if possible) for at least six months, but I wasn't sure about what would come after that. So I started with both - I steamed and roasted pears, apples, peas, sweet potatoes, and carrots, and bought some jars of organic baby food in the same varieties. I thought I'd run a little taste test, testing both my and Sebbe's palates.

So far, home-made pears and apples have been decidedly preferred to the jarred versions - they are sweeter and juicier. Sweet potatoes were more of a draw - he preferred the smooth texture of the store-bought, but ate both. The jarred peas were absolutely disgusting - I tasted them first and didn't even feed them to Seb. As for the jarred carrots - he tried very hard to eat them, which was sweet, but he really didn't like them very much. I thought he just wasn't hungry, but then offered him some banana, and he eagerly wolfed that down. So I'd say home-made is the clear favorite.

The funniest reaction he's had so far has been to spinach - he screwed up his little mouth and gave me this pitiful look. I gave him a second bite and he just let it all dribble out of his mouth. But when I mixed it in with peas and rice, he ate it with no hesitation. The very green result is pictured above. There are a couple more photos in the May album.

pushups!

Uncle Carl saw the first of these pics and called Seb a "muscle-bound freak". Mean uncle Carl. Sebastian has been rocking back and forth on his hands and knees, and scooting himself around the apartment on his belly.

Seb's friends

We are part of a moms and babies group in the Rivertowns that has been meeting since January. All of us have babies that are currently between 5 and 8 months old. I have been meaning to take some pictures of all our new friends and just haven't, but finally took a few last week.

When Steve and I first moved to Dobbs Ferry, we didn't know anyone at all in town or, indeed, anyone anywhere in Westchester county. I could go out to the grocery store or along the trail and be assured that I would meet no one familiar. Things have really changed - there are the 8 women I know from this playgroup, plus the 7-8 women and babies at our music class, as well as all the people in our apartment building. (Before we had Sebastian, we didn't know anyone who lived here, and now I recognize and speak with many of them - and they all know Seb). It's really sweet to start to feel part of the community, and to have new friends going through the same things. Of course, it also means I hesitate to throw on some ratty old thing when going out, as I was wont to do...

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.