Sebastian's Quiver

Sorry (again) for the lack of updates.  Lots has been going on since my last post.  Sebastian is talking (sort of).  He has a whole slew of words, most of which we can’t understand, and the ones that we can understand all sound the same.  Thank goodness for context.  He has stopped using his signs for the most part (which makes me sad) and instead either uses his version of the spoken word or he just points and grunts.  He loves chasing the chickens around the yard. (Still no eggs. Any day now…)  And he likes picking the vegetables before they’re ripe.  Of course, the tomatoes and eggplants have pretty much given up the ghost by now since autumn has settled in, so all we have left are some lettuce plants that we planted very late and a green/purple pepper plant that is still holding on (my first successful sweet pepper…..ever).  Sebastian also loves to dance when we play music.  He starts to dance and then immediately asks to be picked up and spun around in circles really fast. No circles for me, thank you.

We went to Yachats on the Oregon Coast for a three night stay a few weeks ago – we all needed the R&R (including Misha, who got to come along, but not the chickens, who had to stay at home).  We got a house right on the beach and pretty much just alternated between sitting around relaxing in the house and running and digging in the surf and sand outside the house.  Fun was had by all.  Sebastian did much better than we could have hoped for both the drive to and from Yachats (3+ hours away) and staying in a new place.  He even slept for over two hours on the drive home, which made the whole trip a breeze.

For all you all who are sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for our kitchen to be finished, you can (almost) rest easy.  The butcher block counter top was installed (reclaimed wood from African shipyards – talk about recycling) and the shelves were built and installed (no upper cabinets, just shelves).  All that’s left is installing trim around the windows and doors, and baseboard moldings (mouldings?). Oh yeah, and picking out light fixtures.  We also might switch out the door to the basement (which is in the kitchen), but maybe not.  The next project will probably be starting on the basement.

Here are some photos from the trip.  If you want to see all the photos, check out the photo blog.  Also, don’t forget to keep an eye on my tumblelog, which has random photos and such from here or there.  It’s more of a quick post site.

Having sold our house in Decatur, we decided that it was finally time to take a weekend off and head to the coast.  We chose Manzanita, which was both pretty close (only a two hour drive) and also highly recommended by everyone.  We found a nice house across the street from the beach at the last minute and headed out there on Friday afternoon.  We had a great time just hanging out, reading, and taking walks on the beach.

While we were hanging out inside, Sebastian finally did what he’s been trying to do for two months now:  crawl.  He took his very first official crawling steps.  He FINALLY figured out how to, when on all fours, to pick up his hands and move them forward.  Up until now his hands would remain stationary and he would move his butt up and down and back and forth trying to locomote.  First, one hand move forward, then a leg.  Then he did it again.  He was crawling!

That was a week ago, and now he’s crawling all over the place.  He chases Misha; he crawls to the speaker wires (he LOVES wires and cable); he crawls here; he crawls there; he crawls everywhere.

The other thing that he’s figured out is how to stand himself up!  He can go from sitting or crawling, to pulling himself up on things into a standing position.  He’s done it on both of us and he’s done it on the open dishwasher (which he loves).

Every day it’s something brand new.  It’s very exciting.

Here are some photos from our trip to Manzanita.  As usual, all the photos are on the photoblog (and there are a LOT of them).

[War and Peace update: page 96 out of 1455]

Little dude LOVES playing in the sand:

Enveloping mist:

All dressed up for the cold, windy evening:

Solitude:

Enjoying the sun and the surf:

This photo was an accident.  I didn’t expect the different colors:

Colorful sunset with a crescent moon:

Sorry there hasn’t been any post lately.  I was in London on business for a week and hadn’t gotten around to posting anything.

A quick update, then.  Sebastian is as cute as ever.  We started him on solid (though mushy) foods a couple of weeks ago.  So far his favorites seem to be rice cereal and fresh peaches (cooked into a peachy mushy sauce).  He still isn’t crawling (forward), but he’s going backwards as fast as ever.  He’s still a horrible sleeper, though he seems to be getting slightly better.  He’s still teething, though he still doesn’t have any teeth.  We’re still reading War and Peace and we’re up to Chapter 10.  He loves dancing; it cracks him up.

If anyone is interested, I took some photos while I was in London.  They are here.

Without further ado, here are more Sebastian photos (the full set is on the photo blog):

Well, I’m in London.  On business.  Without Juliann and Sebastian.

One thing we did to keep in contact with the eight hour time difference is to use Skype.  it allows you to do pretty high quality video chat on the computer for free.  It also allows calls to phones for super cheap, even internationally.  We used the video chat so Sebastian could watch me stick my tongue out at him.  It’s one of his favorite games.  He also learned (sort of) to wave back when you wave to him.

One other things that came out of the trip is my tumble blog.  What, you ask, is a tumble log?  It’s kind of a quick hit blog.  A link here, a photo there, a short blurb of something somewhere else.  Nothing elaborate.  It’s somewhere between blogging like this and microblogging like Twitter.  So, if you have time, take a look at the tumble blog at http://shawnb.tumblr.com.  Lots of London photos and stuff up there right now.  Get it while it’s hot!