Sebastian’s Quiver

My apologies.  It’s been almost a month since I last posted, and I know all you loyal readers out there are just clamoring for more photos and info on Sebastian.  Well, here you go.

One of the main reasons I’ve been lax is that we had family come to visit!  Yay!  My elder sister Staci, her husband Mike and their daughter Christie stopped by first.  It was fantastic to have them stay with us (better house guests than they will be hard to find).  Sebastian had a ball playing with them (especially Zombie Mike - see photoblog) and we had a ball showing them a bit of Portland (Powell’s Books, Japanese Garden, NW 23rd shopping and Yuki Sushi - YUM!).  It was great having Christie around, and her help roasting coffee and picking raspberries and getting the photos of the duckling will always be appreciated.

The weekend after that my parents came for a visit!  Yay!  Sebastian loved playing with Grandma and Grandpa.  The stayed for the weekend after a couple of nights in Las Vegas, and we showed them a bit of Portland, too - both rose gardens, some bridges (sorry Mom), and Fife (thanks Dad).  As much of the time was spent with them playing with Sebastian.

As far as Sebastian goes, he’ll be 6 months old on July 25.  Half a year, can you believe it?!  He’s getting very close to crawling; he gets on his hands and knees, but he’s not too sure what to do from there and usually starts crying.  His current favorite pasttime (besides not sleeping at night) is playing the piano.  I sit in front of the piano with him on my lap and he just goes to town on it.  He’s currently in his free jazz/experimental phase, so the music isn’t really for everyone.  There are currently plans in the works to record some of it and post it here so you all can listen to his musical prowess.  Sebastian is also very close to eating solid foods.  All the experts say six months is a good time to start introducing him to solid foods, so we are starting to plan his first foray into solids foods.  What will be first?  Bananas?  Avocados?  You’ll have to wait and see.  I’ll try to remember to get some photos of his first food eating experience, and if I do, I’ll post them here.

On a more adult note, Juliann and I are both doing well.  We are a bit tired due to Sebastian’s horrible sleep patterns (or, more accurately, non-sleep patterns).  My new job is going well - you can see the iPhone application that I helped develop, and you can download it, too.  Juliann is getting ready to take her massage therapist licensing exam.

OK, that’s probably enough.  You just came here to check out the newest photos, so here they are.  As usual, you can check out the photoblog: Family Photos, Sebastian Photos and Japanese Garden Photos.

Perfect shot:

It’s Grandma!  And the blanket that Great-Great-Grandma made!

Oooooooo, a new toy:

Staring contest.  High Noon.  In front of Kitty’s Saloon:

Drool!

Gazing off into the distance:

At the Japanese Garden:

Sebastian delivering the Baby Death Grip to his Uncle Mike:

And of course, one last one of my wonderful wife:

Sunday was Juliann’s first Mother’s Day!  Such a rare event deserved very special consideration, so I mulled over many different ideas of what I could do to make the day even more special.  I decided on taking Juliann (and, of course, Sebastian) to her very favorite place in the whole world:  the Oregon Coast.  Of course, I also treated her to breakfast in bed, a box of special gourmet chocolates from Cork, and a gift certificate for a 90 minute massage at one of the nicer spas in Portland.

(An aside:  This past Friday (May 9) was the five year anniversary of the day we first met.  We had a special dinner with a great local bottle of wine and an excellent bottle of dessert wine from Badia a Coltibuno in honor of where we got engaged exactly four years previous.)

Back to Mother’s Day.  Juliann picked up some yummy foods from New Seasons, we packed up the car with changes of clothes and food and extra shoes and socks and rain gear and camera equipment.  Sebastian slept for the entire 90 minute drive to the coast and we ended up at Ecola State Park.  To give you an idea of where we were, here are two photos taken seconds apart (I know the sky is very different in the two photos, but that’s Oregon weather for you).  For a sense of scale, in the first photo, you can see some people down in the lower left corner of the photo.

Sebastian was great, as usual, on our trek outdoors.  He was awake for the beach hike and he was mostly asleep for the forest hike.  Here he is all bundled up on the beach (click to enlarge, like all the other photos):

Juliann is pretty much Sebastian’s full time chauffer.  I find it pretty amazing that she does all the hiking that I do, but with a 16+ pound wait hanging off her frontside.  She is often way out ahead of me, and not just because I stop to take photos.

Here are a couple more photos from the beach.  As always, please go to the photoblog for more photos and captions.

After we finished on the beach, we went back to the car and had lunch.  From there, we went on the forest hike.  The hike was a loop and the first half of the hike was 100% uphill - no small, level stretches, no slight downhills - it was very steep and all uphill, about 1.25 miles and a gain of 800+ ft in elevation.  The forest was beautiful, though.  Huge trees and lush greenery surrounded us.  The second half of the loop took us closer to the coast and we had some wonderful views of the water and beach and lighthouse.  Here are several photos from the hike:

The lighthouse.  For a closeup, go to the photoblog:

So many trees:

One final look back at the beach:

And there you have it!  Our very first Mother’s Day.

Is that dappled sunlight falling upon Sebastian’s head? Nope. Is it a bald spot? Nope. It’s a blonde streak in his otherwise brown head of hair. I guess he couldn’t decide whether he wanted his dad’s dark curls or his mom’s blonde silk. It will be interesting to see if that streak stays with him or if it changes along with his other hair as he grows older.

A number of people have asked how our feline member of the family is getting along with the newest human member. Well, here you go:

Just as long as Sebastian doesn’t steal Misha’s spot in the sun, they’ll get along just fine.

(Yes, I realize these photos are huge.  I might get around to shrinking them down to a more manageable size, but then again, I might not.)