Sebastian's Quiver

If you ask anyone who has lived in Portland, they’ll tell you the biggest problem with the city is the winters – they last for 6 months and all it does is rain.  Our first experience with a Portland winter was quite the opposite.  It started off realtively warm and sunny.  Native Portlanders commented how it was so unusual for the weather to be so terrific.  Then something happened as the nights grew longer and longer and the winter solstice approached – it got colder, and colder, and colder.  Then the snow began to fall.  The first snowfall was on a weekend and we got an inch or two and I was hopping around the house, ecstatic.  Then, about a week later it started to snow again.  And snow.  And snow.  By the end of the storm we had somewhere between a 15″ and 18″ of snow on the ground.  The entire city was covered in a blanket of white.  Long icicles hung from the eaves.  We took Sebastian outside for a walk every day, but it was cold, and we didn’t stay out too long.  One day I bundled up and walked the mile to the supermarket to pick up some necessities and there were people out and about walking around in the middle of the street (the sidewalks weren’t walkable, and the streets weren’t really much better), kids playing the snow, dogs running around all psycho.  It was a winter wonderland.  Everyone was smiling and happy and having fun.

I hadn’t been in a storm like that in, well, I don’t know how long.  Never in 17 years of living in Atlanta had I seen that much fall.  Maybe when I was visiting the Northeast after moving to Atlanta?  Maybe, there was snow when I was in New Hampshire, but I don’t think it was a foot-and-a-half because I drove my Hyundai to Vermont in it.  Like I said, I don’t remember seeing that much fall in a long, long time.

Snow this past weekend meant one thing:  a White Chanukah!  It was my first Chanukah away from my immediate family in, well, I don’t know how long.  Ever?  What to do?  Technology to the rescue!  My brother-in-law setup a webcam at their house, I turned on my laptop cam, and we connected via Skype in order to have a Video Chanukah.  We ate dinner together and we opened up presents together.  It was great seeing everyone, and it I’m sure they really enjoyed seeing us, especially Sebastian, who loves looking at the computer and interacting with the video.  We made homemade latkes and no-so-homemade matzoh ball soup.  Sebastian got bongos and wooden dinosaurs and other wonderful toys that’s he’s been playing with all week.  He was totally mesmerized by his very fist dreidel.  Even better were the candles that we lit in our homemade menorah (my grandmother’s glass candy dish filled with kosher salt with Chanukah candles stuck into it – out real menorah is still in a box in our basement and we couldn’t find it after an hour of looking).  One of Sebastian’s favorite signs is for ‘light’, and whenever he looks at the burning candles he signs ‘light’ with both hands.  Then I combined the signs for ‘fire’ and ‘light’ and he started using both of them when looking at the candles.  Booyah!  Then I showed him the sign for ’snow’ and now whenever he looks outside at the snow he signs ’snow’.  It’s great to see the sign language that we’ve been using with him for the past several months start to sink in.  He regularly uses the signs for ‘light’, ‘milk’, ‘more’, ’snow’, and sometimes ‘cat’ and ‘ball’.

Sebastian is also very close to taking his first steps.  He stands easily now, cruising along the furniture, hobbling around the house holding our fingers.  You can see that he thinks about doing it, but so far he just either falls forward or drops down into a crawl.  All his teething is finally going to pay off – two front bottom teeth are just starting to appear.  They should be out any day now.  His eating has progressed beyond the puréed foods.  He loves pancakes (no syrup), spaghetti, hummus and pita, and lots of other foods that we eat.  He still gets his daily dose of fruits and veggies so that he gets nice balanced meals.

Below are some new photos.  You can see all the snowstorm photos here, or all the newest Sebastian photos here.  Also, Juliann joined Facebook, so if you want to go visit here there, she would be happy to have you visit.  And now, what you’ve been waiting for, the photos (sorry for the weird photo sizes, the new version of Wordpress 2.7 changed the default image sizes).

Our car in the driveway:

A view down the street before the snow finished falling:

Juliann and Sebastian talking a walk in the snow:

Sebastian playing dreidel:

Sebastian eating breakfast:

For the first time, Sebastian only woke up two times during the night.  He slept for about 12 hours and woke up twice.  You have no idea how incredible that is (unless, of course, you’ve experience the same child-induced sleep deprivation).  He’s done this two night in a row.  He’s in his own room in his crib and sleeping for 5 hour chunks.  Hellelujah!

If you remember, the first month or so, the three of us went on hike after hike – Columbia River Gorge, Sauvie Island, Columbia River Gorge again.  For whatever reason, the hikes went on hiatus for a while, but now they’re back!  We went to Eagle Creek Trail in the Columbia River Gorge last week.  Apparently it’s a very popular hike…in the summer time.  It’s a wonderful hike along Eagle Creek – gentle incline, fantastic views, serene solitude.  When we got to the end of our hike (though not the end of the trail) we found out why it was such a great summer hike: a fantastic wading/swimming area at the base of Punchbowl Falls.  We’ll need to head back there when the weather warms up next year.  A picnic and a bathing suit would be perfect.

As far as Sebastian goes, he’s slowly learning how to stand on his own.  He’s not free standing for more than a second, but he’s definitely experimenting with it.  He’s also cllimbing a lot more; he’s figured out how to hitch his knee and leg up on things and pull/push himself up on things.  Sebastian is also starting to sleep a little better.  We took him to the Sleep Clinic at OHSU because he’s been sleeping so incredibly poorly for so incredibly long.  We had a consultation with some of the doctors and when we got home we started working on their suggestions.  We moved his crib into his own room and we tweeked his bedtime routine a little bit.  The results?  Instant progress!  To get an idea of how poor a sleeper he was, the first night he was in his room he woke up 9 times during the night, and that was his best night sleep, well, pretty much ever.  The next night he slept for a 6 hour stretch – his longest ever!  That night, unfortunately, seems to be an aberration, but his sleep patterns have definitely improved to the point where he is now reliably (knock-on-wood) sleeping for 3 hour stretches.  He’s asleep by 7pm and he wakes up at 10pm, 1am and 4am, with minor variations every night.  Sebastian is also slowly learning to put himself to sleep by himself, which, according to the doctors, is a learned skill, so we’re trying to help encourage him in every possible way to do so.

Portland update! I discovered something here in Portland that I never found in 17+ years in Atlanta: zeppoles!  For those of you who don’t know, zeppoles are fried balls of dough covered in powdered sugar, not unlike bengiets.  When I was a kid on Long Island, we would go to the Italian Festivals (does anyone know what the festivals were for?) and they would have zeppole stands where you could get a bag of zeppoles smothered in powdered sugar.  I found an Italian bakery not far from us that sells zeppoles on the last Saturday of every month, so we swung by yesterday on the way home from the farmer’s market and I got 6 zeppoles for $2.  Delicious!  I almost went back for more, but I decided to wait until next month – it’s best not to overdo a good thing.  That’s about it for Portland, other than the fact that we had a really nice November – much less rain and much more sun than usual (or so Portlanders have been saying).

The photos today are courtesy of Eagle Creek Trail.  Please visit the photoblog for all the photos.

Eagle Creek, towards the beginning of the hike:

Punchbowl Falls, from the overlook point along the trail:

Sebastian roaming around the overlook:

He found a boulder to climb:

Very intense:

Dad making sure he doesn’t take a tumble:

More mushrooms!  By now, you should know I’ve been on a mushroom kick:

More of the creek:

This is at the bottom of the trail that leads to the base of Punchbowl Falls.  If you walk up the creek and around the bend, the falls is right there.  This is a fantastic place to go swimming/wading in the summer time:

More rushing creek:

One of the other falls a short way downriver from Punchbowl:

It seems that Sebastian is learning new things every day.  His newest thing is scrunching up his nose when he’s happy or excited.  I’ll try and get a photo of it sometime soon before he grows out of it.  He’s feeding himself O’s.  Whenever he gets one in his mouth he gets SO excited!  He’s gotten very good at throwing the ball (and other toys).

The big event is that we moved his crib into his own room.  This should hopefully be helpful with getting him and, just as importantly, us, more sleep.  We’ll see how it works.  Wish us luck.

A couple of photos.

Sebastian playing with his shadow:

Sebastian at the Farmer’s Market with a leek:

Fig Tree in Autumn:

Here are some photos that we took this weekend.  Nothing more to report.

I know, I know.  Again.  It’s been forever since I last updated the blog and provided everyone with much anticipated photos of Sebastian.  Sorry about that.  So here we go.

This is our first autumn in Portland.  I didn’t realize how much I missed this season until we moved here.  Atlanta doesn’t really have autumn.  Sure, leaves change, but for the most part they change from green to brown, and autumn usually only lasts a couple weeks or so.  The colors here in Portland are amazing.  Everywhere you look there are yellows and oranges and reds.  The whole city is alive with color.  There are so many elm and birch and maple and beech and japanese maple and so many other kinds of trees with wonderful leaves that you can’t help but be in awe.  We have a couple of maple trees right out front of the house and there was nothing better to wake up in the morning and open the blinds to see bright reds and oranges filling our view.

Of course, with the beautiful trees comes the weather.  Ask anyone in Portland about Portland and you’ll get the same response:  best city to live in…except maybe in the winter.  Gray and rainy is how it is aptly described.  This week is supposed to be beautiful – 50s and sunny, but earlier this week it was quite gray and rainy and pretty cold, too.  It’s something that I’ll have to get used to.  No more shorts and t-shirts in January.

As far as Sebastian goes (you didn’t think I was going to get around to him, eh?), he’s doing great.  He’s somewhere around 21 pounds now and he’s eating three square meals a day, all hand prepared by us (mostly Juliann).  He’s been eating eggplant, sweet potato, beets, apples, pears, grapes, oatmeal, rice cereal, carrots, peppers, pumpkin, squash, and other things, I’m sure.  Besides the fruit, his favorite is golden beets.  I think he takes after his mom when it comes to food likes (most things) and dislikes (few things).  He’s crawling up a storm.  He flits around the house like a hummingbird looking for nectar.  He cruises while holding onto tables and chairs and couches.  He loves playing giddyapp-horsey, which is pretty much him just bouncing himself up and down chaotically while standing up (or being held).  He’s been teething something fierce lately, but still no teeth.  Any day now, I’m sure of it.

I haven’t taken as many photos as I would have liked this past month, mostly because all three of us were sick for a couple of weeks each.  It was a pretty bad cold, but I laid up for a while, and I just didn’t have the energy to get out with the camera.  Luckily I got a couple nice shots of autumn in Portland.  I haven’t taken as many of Sebastian lately, but I am planning on getting some of him real soon and I’ll post them when I do.

[War and Peace update: page 160 out of 1455 - completed Part 1]

As usual, a bigger selection of photos can be found on my photo blog:

• Autumn in Portland photos
• Hoyt Arboretum photos
• Mushroom photos
• Sebastian photos

Sebastian in the Ergo Carrier at Hoyt Arboretum:

Sebastian looking a bit like a faerie in our backyard garden:

Sebastian being very excited:

Portland’s autumnal colors:

Ginkgo:

Late autumn at Hoyt Arboretum:

Cool root fan:

Fern in the setting sun:

Mushroom at Hoyt:

Earlier today we were all hanging out in the living room and before we knew it Sebastian was playing behind the open door to the stairs that lead to our second floor.  Juli and I got up at the same time and peaked around the door and there was Sebastian already climbing up the stairs!  We sat ourselves on the stairs and made sure the he wasn’t going to fall and he kept climbing higher and higher (photos below).

The other things that he did this weekend was go down the slide at the playground almost by himself.  At first I laid him down halfway up so he could slide down on his back, but he really wanted to sit up and go down the slide, so I held his hand and let him slide most of the way down the slide just holding my hand.  He loved it!  He went down a bunch of times smiling and laughing the entire time.

Sebastian has also been doing more and more cruising.  For those of you who don’t know the baby lingo, that means that he stands around holding onto things and shuffles around while standing.  Essentially, walking around while holding onto things.  He’s a little tentative, but he is getting around more and more.

Here are the latest photos.  I’ve been a bit lax with the photography, so I apologize.  Here are the links to all the photos:

http://literalshore.com/zenphoto/sebastian/

http://literalshore.com/zenphoto/sebastian/2008-09-29/

[War and Peace update: page 127 out of 1455]

We went to the Saturday Farmer’s Market at PSU like we always do first thing Saturday morning, and it was cold this weekend, so we had to bundle Sebastian up.  He was the most popular kid at the Farmer’s Market.

Here he is climbing the stairs:

Sebastian LOVES our friends’ kitten, Calvin.

Climbing the stairway to heaven:

He’s so sweet when he’s sleeping:

I got home from work yesterday and Sebastian was playing on the living room floor.  He saw me walk in and usually he’ll just get a excited and I’ll come over to him.  But now, he realized, he can crawl. So he got on all fours and quickly crawled across the room to me.  What a great feeling.

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:

It seems winter has set in early here in Portland.  Summer usually is hotter for longer, but yesterday it rained all day, was gray, and the temperature barely got out of the 50s.  Welcome to Portland Winter.

So, to celebrate, I thought that I would post a couple more photos.  Sebastian, for the first time, has moved from a laying-on-his-belly position up into a sitting position.  Pretty neat.  He was just skootching himself around on his belly, and the next thing we knew, he was sitting up.

War and Peace update:  pg 80 out of 1455

Yummy! Peaches, Sweet Potatoes, and Rice Cereal

Close up of the food face

See! I can feed myself! (He really can't)

The only use for the vibrating chair. Sebastian doesn't sit in it anymore.

I always try to end with a photo of my wonderful, beautiful wife.