25 weeks...

Can you believe it, 25 weeks since I was grunting, swaying and pushing in a hospital room? I can't...


Since i last blogged Sebastian has grown to a whopping 19.6 lbs... his hands are massive and his thighs are fabulous fatties! He is sitting up and only ever wants to sit - or stand... he pulls himself up on us and in his walker without using hands (don't freak we have no stairs and only tile floors) and from his first attempt goes forward, backward and sideways. He he is rolling every which way - has been rolling over since 3 months... but now he throws himself from sitting and rolls over and starts to push onto his knees - or does swimming motions... not long now... and we are still procrastinating the babyproofing... argh. Well unless you count the baby gate across the laundry room... which was in fact to stop the beagle eating the cat poop... so we are ahead on getting the baby to stop eating that too then!


Seb got his 2 bottom teeth - the first one came in about 5 weeks ago and now they are definitely teethy looking and can be seen without prising his lips apart. He has only bitten me nipples once, which isn't bad - but likes to bite our fingers, esp Granny Reid's.

He loves to dance, dance, dance - music makes him sway and jiggle like a mofo bending at the knees and laughing along - yes what else would you expect from the child of one 'who loves a good beat'... and of course Alex is a big techno fan and club lover...

He said Mama last night when I entered a room - very exciting stuff.. he has been saying mam for awhile.. but last night when Alex was giving him his lavender post bath massage on the changing matt, I came in the room and he looked and me and said a definitive Mama... Alex heard it too and exclaimed before I did!

Unfortunately the baby that was sleeping through the night or waking only once for 10 or so minutes has spent the last 2 nights refusing to go to bed... within 10 mins of being laid down the eyes are open and the squinnying starts and he is wide awake again... 2 nights ago i slept for 3 hours on the sofa with him as that was the only place i could get him to settle... then at 3.30 a.m. we finally ventured into the bedroom and climbed into the bed with daddy... i am sure this is a phase... growth spurt, top teeth or something - but god it makes getting up for work a biatch... if only i could stay home and just lay prone on the bed with him sticking his toes in his mouth happily! :)

In other news my mother, Elizabeth, turned 80 last Saturday - 8/8... wow - can't believe it, she is just an amazing woman - still looks fabulous - no makeup other than lippy most of her life and just soap, water and oil of olay (or ulay as it was known in the UK back then)... apart from her bionic hips she is in good health and has Seb for us Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday - and what a love affair that is!

We also moved up to the world of family wagon car... well it is still smoking... we got ourselves a VW Passat wagon - the SE model... it has very cool features with window blinds built into the doors, trunk that opens and closes itself with the push of a button... and Sirus radio - hello Radio One and Chris Moyles and getting some international music flavour... oh and the good techno and 80s new wave stuff too! Anyhow, we are LOVING our car and i am working on seeing the highest mpg i can get per day - i had it at 96.4 going down tuttle the other day... but it is a turbo - so i do tend to then counteract that by occassionally flooring it just to shock all the others on the road as I FLY past! :)

It is white with black interior and will soon have dark as possible tinted windows... to match my fabulous little focus ZX3 alex now zips about in... I LOVED that car - and do miss the stick... but I enjoy the turbo... and the BEST part... no more 1994 Lexus SC400 sitting in the driveway! Thanks Obama - we LOVE cash for clunkers!

Sebastian and family - 13 weeks

Alex girl did some pictures of us at a friend's bbq recently - enjoy - we did - she did a great job and we love her for it.... she had an emergency back op last night so sending her positive vibes today! There are also a couple of pics of Marc's visit here and our lovely great-nephew Jamie for good measure!

Happy boy... but who wouldn't be in their Obama onesie - a pre-birth gift from Alex girl - purchased from a vendor on the fab streets of NYC.

some pics from Marc's surprise visit to meet Sebi (and get beach time! lol)...

and the gorgeous Jamie Bamie!

14 weeks in...

Well, here we are 14 weeks in on this crazy ride called parenthood... I LOVE IT... or should I say WE love it... watching Sebastian grow, change and learn has been the most amazing experience of our lives. Every little thing he does fills us with joy and amazement. He was smiling and laughing at 3 weeks... and I don't mean gas - I mean belly laughs... he has been rolling over from his back to his front - both ways and pushing his head up for 2 weeks now... he loves to play with his toys - grasping things with both hands and inspecting them - and of course mouthing them to death - and he is a drooler - bibs are our friend. He is now showing an interest in what the cat and dog are up to - watching them as they cross the room - when Chiron the beagle walks by he reaches out to run his hand along his fur...

Unfortunately Chiron the beagle has been afflicted with terrible pollen related allergies this season - he gets asthma attacks and his skin is just rife with hot spots and he is itching and slurping incessantly... I do feel terrible for the poor baby - we have tried organic baths in clove and cinnamon shampoo, oatmeal shampoos - and this last week I even resorted to head and shoulders as it says for dry/irritated skin... to no avail. We had him on antihistimines and steroids - to no avail... we are bathing him twice a week as his coat oil is getting out of control due to all the scratching - as the baby has me up around 6 a.m. (on a good day - lol) I did a midweek early a.m. bath last week... and boy does the beagley beagle HATE the water... I took him in a pool once and he made like Jesus and walked the surface back to the steps...

Anyhoo - the point I was making was that Seb sits out on the deck in his bouncer while we bathe the dog - and he finds this one of the highlights of his week - he laughs as chiron shakes and sprays and the spray from the hose finds its way onto him - I wonder if he is aware of Chiron's deep hate of water and laughing at his "brother's" torturous plight of twice weekly baths!

Sebastian, however, LOVES water, baths, swimming in the pool, rain - you name it... he will splash and kick and swing his arms for ages... I let him go under and he holds his breath as they should - this i learned from Swede Heidi - but I must get some good literature and learn how to get him really learning properly...

He is really a chatty little boy - he talks and talks and talks - hardly lets anyone get a word in edgeways... takes after both his grannies I think (and maybe his Mummy).... anyhow - for a while now he has been cooing and gurgleing and making fab vowel noises and something sounding like an mmm... sound... we lay in bed with him just chatting and listening and responding and teaching him the flow of conversation and laughing... when we laugh he laughs with us... we watched Marley and Me last night (almost as good as the book) and whenever we laughed he joined in with a belly laugh of his own...

Unfortunately he still gets up through the night repeatedly - which is normal - but hard when I have to get up and work the next day - but honestly - although I grumble when he first rouses and i stagger through the house to the couch - once we are there and I am feeding him - cuddled with him on the breast - I see how hard this is to give up once they choose to wean... that one on one time only I can share with him - making him strong and healthy... and strong he is - he is already sitting himself up - he will have a 6 pack in the next month.... and he can pull on things - mind you he did that from birth - causing me to tear badly - when he came down the birth canal he grabbed my hoohaw with his hand and did some class A damage...

My dear friend Marc came over from England for a long weekend - while his parents were also here - to meet Sebastian - it was a surprise... and a lovely one. Alex girl insisted on coming round on a week night to see Seb - okay so we got some take out from Shakespeare's and visited... at 8.00 p.m. there was a knock at the door - which Alex girl got rather antsy about... Alex dad got up to answer it and just stood there saying 'oh sh*t' over and over... well since i had assumed it was Jehova's or some such i was getting desperate to know what was going on... he swung the door round and there stood Marcy Marc... he came in and visited - then we all had dinner at his parent's condo the following night - both Alex's, Seb and myself... Saturday was a day at the pool with the baby and Sunday we all had dinner at Carrabas - was lovely to see him and spend some time. He got me some lovely rugby onesie outfits from Next for Seb... he went home Monday - but is back later on in September - CAN'T WAIT! Hopefully with Cameron as we want to meet him! :)

I am on the hunt for a new play mat/baby gym for him - with more to do and see for tummy and back time as he loves the one he has - but it is a bit feeble... suggestions welcome on which ones are sturdy, fun and interesting!

We had great nephew Jamie (2 years old) for a few hours last Sunday while Sarah and Tony went to brunch... he is just such a treasure to spend time with and LOVES Seb... he calls him Bastians and always wants to see him, hold him and 'tickle, tickle Bastians'... we had so much fun and took them over to the park - got some good pics of Uncle Alex and Jamie on the fab equipment at Arlington Park (a walk away from us) - to be uploaded soon - and even met Matthias and Isabel - who had just visited with SwedeHeidi, SwedeDad, Swedegirl and Swedebabe! Small world!

Seb is adjusting well to me being at work - he LOVES spending his days with Granny Reid and Snoopy the toy fox terrier... they have fun and walks and play time and she just loves on him - so does Snoopy - who squeaks and barks as soon as he hears my car in the a.m. On Wednesday's our friend Mai has the baby at our house for the day - so he has a day of Spanish (plus Daddy talking to him in Spanish at home) - and this gives me a break from driving to Mum's, to work, to Mum's at lunch to feed him, to work, and then back to Mum's at the end of the day - not that I am complaining as I know we have free childcare with family and people that love him to bits... and I would drive miles for that as I can't be at home... work are great about me pumping so I can give Mum fresh leche at lunch for his afternoon and at the end of the day for the next a.m.

Here is a selection of pics from April and May - there are more to come of the last couple of weeks - once I finally upload them! Now that I am back at work the last thing I want to do when I get home is sit at a computer - UGH.

Give me the camera...



I love my teddy bookmark!



Mummy and Seb on our first Mother's Day!



Auntie Alex and Seb



Marc came from England just to meet me (and get sun)!

Family pool time at Granny and Grandpa Fleeners...

Mummy and Daddy went out with Marc for some Guiness...

I do love Obama really...

Surprise guests...

So last night Alex girl came round to visit Seb and she, Flex and I ordered burgers from Shakespeare's - YUM... well at 7.30 the doorbell went and Flex went and opened it and kept saying 'Oh $hit, 'Oh $hit, 'Oh $hit'... by now I am thinking we have naked Jehovah's Witnesses on the door step - BUT, when he opened the door wide and I spied my beloved gay husband Marcy Marc standing there - he flew in from England as a surprise to see me and meet Sebastian for a long weekend... Wonderful surprise. Only Alex girl and my Mum knew about the plan...

You know who your friends are from this kind of thing... 2 of my best friends, Marc and Lizzi, have flown in all the way from UK over the last 8 weeks to meet the baby - and friends from around the country have been in constant touch with love and advice - HOWEVER, people that live within miles of us never call or came round... interesting!

Back at work...

Well, last week marked my first week back at work with out the boy... I had thought about it and tossed and turned over it for days, no weeks... if someone mentioned it or asked when I was coming back I immediately choked up and and teared up. So the day came, we had a run through with Granny Reid the week before and all went well... Sebastian did not bat an eye lid - and he is such an easy, happy baby all went well.

Up in the a.m. and over to Granny's - on the boobs so only one bottle would be required til lunchtime - in the car to the office. Dry eyes mostly - until I glanced in the rear-view and saw his empty car seat base and I blubbed. It had been he and I against the world for 8 weeks - the 2 of us toodling around town from appointments, family homes and to lunch dates... fabulous.

I got to the office and they had decorated my cube with signs and confetti and had tissues at the ready - so that got me a bit sniffly again. I spent the morning being overwhelmed by the amount of work already waiting and fighting the urge to call and see how he was - knowing I would get a call if things were not well...

At 12.30 I dashed out and drove to my Mum's - Seb was fine and hanging with Granny, Tia Jackie and cousin Jamie... I gave him each boob and had a french bread pizza made by Mum and then he and I hit the road. Mai met us as our house and took over and I headed back to work aware that it was so much harder for me than him... he knows his carers and they love him - what more can I ask?

I got home at 5.45 and he was with daddy chilling - we went with Chiron round the park and had dinner, a bath and then went to bed... easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Tuesday is another story - around lunch time I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach and by Tuesday night had stomach flu - I stayed home on Wednesday and Mum came round to watch Seb so I could rest. I felt a bit better Thursday a.m. though still had not eaten or kept the cup of soup or crackers in... I left work at 3 on Thursday and then stayed home Friday - what a crazy first week.

Come Saturday Mum was terribly ill with this and Jamie had suffered in the week too - bless him and poor Sarah as he was out both ends poor little mite.

So week 2 came - I got lots of rest this weekend which was lovely (also mastitis in the right boob from switching to more pumping less sucking), but got through that with hot compresses, hot showers, lots of massage and putting Seb on the boob - thanks Flex for all your support and making me stop and get in the hot shower when I needed it!

Seb is spending his mornings this week at Granny Fleener's doc practice - in the back with some of the gang there who are spoiling him rotten - his great granny goes over to help too so he is in his element - plus then I get to pass Starbucks en route back to the office... it is going well and we will be back to Granny Reid's next week when she has had some flu recovery time...

So there we are - back at work - crazy stuff going on and the baby is the most unphased of all... they truly are amazing - everything about them... just watching him process things and know in his head he too can do this... Alex and I were poking our tongues out at him the other night and he watched and then kept moving his mouth in the funniest ways - we just KNEW he was trying to copy... FANTASTIC!

8.5 weeks on

hello again all, sorry to have been absent, but i have not been on computers much... as my mother had a hip replacement 10 days after Sebastian was born i have spent a lot of time there with her... and as she is on dial up i have not used her computer.

my 8 weeks off work were fabulous and i would happily have stayed at home enjoying every moment of his development, but it is not to be. Happily my mum and a venezuelan friend will be splitting the days between them until Mum's hip is stronger in a month or so and can do full days. It is nice as i can get home to feed the baby at lunch and work is being great about me pumping so he can stay on mama's leche...

Sebastian is a lovely, mellow, happy baby - he smiles and laughs and is just a joy... he is awake most of the day with some scattered half hour naps... at around 8 one of us has a bath with him which he loves and then he chills until he gets his last feed around 10 and then he sleeps for around 5 hours... unfortunately after this 3 a.m. feed he does not settle and is up once or twice more - not sure what to do to combat this... will work out i am sure, but as i am back at work today am quite tired as up 3 times a total of 2 hours last night... no more going back to bed until 10 a.m. now.

he is growing like a weed - his doc appointments on Friday showed him as 91st percentile for weight, lenght and head - 13bs 1oz, 23 1/3 inches and 16 inches respectively... the size of a 4 month old... and wearing his 3-6 month clothes already.

the dog and cat have been great and adjusted perfectly to him and act like he is not there - although if someone looks in or goes near him on walks Chiron gets on his hind legs and sticks his head in too to see what they are up to - and when we get home from somewhere and chiron comes out of his kennel he immediately looks in the carrier to check Seb is there and in one piece! :) Cleo just smells him occasionally and then goes about her business.

here are some pics from the last 2 weeks!

okay so seb is 18 days old... it is just flying by - crazy... he is asleep in the boppy and i am catching up with computer time. alex had wicked flu - so i have been a single mum in a house with a hubby quaratined to his office and sleeping on the futon in there.

this a.m. was flex's first day back at work - i have showered, had oatmeal and hot chocolate and made spaghetti sauce for dinner with italian sausage and eggplant... what a morning...

mum had her hip replacement op last week so i am just waiting to hear from big sis so we can pick her up from rehab and take her home and have seb visit with her...

been a crazy time...

while lizzi was here we took seb on his first whole foods shopping expedition and for his first outing to siesta beach - complete with anna's sandwiches... YUM!