juice!

Sebastian has a new favorite word: JUICE! We started giving him watered down orange juice when he was sick and we were worried about his fluid intake. And then we continued because he just loves it. Loves it. He'll chug his entire sippy cup.

This past Sunday morning, Steve opened the fridge, and Sebbe pointed in at the oj container and said "juice!". (okay, so it was more like "jui") Now he can't stop repeating it. When I gave him his milk this morning, I swear he said "where's juice?"

Awesome. :)

January adventures

At the new Greenburgh Public Library, a wonderfully light-filled new building

In Cold Spring, a Hudson River town north of us

At Dia: Beacon, a contemporary art museum

At the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium.

We've had a wonderful first week of 2009, and have kept ourselves very busy.

At the Museum of Natural History

I've been off from work all week and have been loving my time with Sebastian. He and I went to a baby gym class at Great Play twice, visited Steve at his office in midtown Manhattan, had a playdate with some friends, and visited the Natural History Museum (Steve played hooky and came with us!). We weren't sure if Seb would appreciate or even enjoy the museum, but he really loved it. He actually looked at the animals in the exhibits, he was fascinated by the various videos, and he ran around everywhere. I'm not sure he "got" the dinosaur rooms, but Steve really liked them. It was a great trip!

Feeding myself!

Last Sunday, Sebastian finally figured out how to grab his spoon and navigate it toward his own mouth. He attacked his yogurt and blueberries with gusto. He was so proud. (So were we.)

Christmas 2008

We had a terrific Christmas this year - spent the morning at home opening presents (Sebastian got into it, which was so fun), and then went out to Long Island to celebrate with the Raabs. There are way too many pictures from Christmas morning - 200 or so - and I'm temporarily daunted by the job of culling and sorting and deciding. Until I manage it, here's a photo of us from the Raab family party.

train play

My parents bought Sebastian a name train while we were together in Portland in June. Before now, he's mostly ignored it, or simply picked up the various pieces and thrown them around. During the last three or four days he's suddenly become fascinated by it. He loves to stick the different letters together (they have magnets on each end), roll the completed train around, and then pick it up and shake it all apart.


train play from B. Avery on Vimeo.

SNOW!

It snowed on Friday in Dobbs, and we took Sebbe out. I showed him snowballs, and a snow angel, and we went tobogganing. The verdict? He's not so sure about the cold white stuff, and he doesn't like being bundled up. :) More snowy pics in the gallery.


Tobogganing! from Brianna Avery on Vimeo.

watering the plants

Sebastian has seen me water the houseplants many times - I'm often carrying him on one hip as I go around the apartment and feed them all. He got hold of the watering can and has been copying my actions in the cutest way.

mama!

At long last, Sebastian has discovered the ma sound. Mama. I love it. He still isn't using it to mean me, but at least he's added some mamamas to the dadadas in his repertoire.

He's also started doing this weird cute flying thing when he walks. He puts his arms behind him and juts his chin forward, leaning into the wind. I don't know if it makes his faster, or if he thinks it does. But it's utterly adorable. Back when tummy time was a big deal, he used to arch up on his belly, and lift his arms and legs behind him as though he were flying. This is the exact same pose, but vertical. We'll try to get some pictures of it.

We've had a very busy couple of weeks on our end. Some tough things: random sleeplessness (Seb), stomach virus (both me and Seb), and a very bad cold. Plus a visitor (hi Kelsey!), Thanksgiving then Christmas (cooking and shopping), and a bunch of busy work days for Steve. I can't wait for the Christmas break - I'll be home from the 24th to the 4th! It's awesome.

visit to the Greenburgh Nature Center

Last Sunday was rainy and cold, so for an adventure we took Sebastian to the Greenburgh Nature Center. It's only a 10 minute drive, and has all kinds of fun indoor animals - turtles, lizards, snakes, some birds, guinea pigs, etc. They even take some of them out of the cages and let you touch, as the pictures above show. Sebbe was fascinated by the turtles. He watched one slowly crawling across the floor, and repeatedly tried to scoot it with his hand, to make it go faster. More pics in the gallery.