Now that Seb is walking, I'm missing the days of him being just a little baby. Here are a few pictures to see how far he's come.


Seb sitting on his own for the first time.







And before he could sit.





















And boy did he love Johnny Jump Up!

Sebastien took his first steps tonight!! He couldn't sleep so I just let him get up and play a little bit since it was still pretty early. I'm so glad I did! He was standing holding on to the rocking chair, and I was sitting on the floor just a little ways from him. I held my arms out like I've done a hundred times and said, "Will you walk to mommy?" He usually just sits down and crawls to me. But tonight he took about 5 steps and made it all the way to my arms. It was marvelous!

I think he got some confidence earlier today. We were at Old Navy buying him (the cutest!) new winter clothes. He found a plastic chair and held onto it to stand up. The chair slid all over the cement floor, and he just walked proudly along as it slid holding on to it. Pablo was walking alongside him making sure the chair didn't go too fast for him, and Sebastien just loved it! He kept looking up at us flashing the biggest smile.

Another big event - Sebastien ate his first cookie today. He doesn't get sweets very often. We give him crackers for snacks and things, but he's only ever had a couple licks of a lollipop or a little bite of brownie here or there. (He also did eat a bit of his birthday cake, but I'm not counting that.) But today, as a celebration of him pushing that chair all over Old Navy, we made a family visit to Mrs. Field's and got him his own mini chocolate chip cookies. You would have thought he'd never eaten in his entire life! He devoured the first, then the second, and then was grabbing for the bag to get more. But mommy had eaten the rest. He ended up with his face and hands full of chocolate, the most adorable thing ever.

So now, our little Seb is walking. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. We'll have to see how our exhaustion levels are at the end of the day now. I have a feeling I'll be longing for the days when he couldn't even crawl.

Two signs that Sebastien is growing up: 1) He draws. 2) He uses a spoon. These are two skills that before just a few days ago he seemed to have no interest in learning. When we'd give him a crayon, he'd just try to eat it. And when we gave him a spoon, he'd either push it away or throw it on the floor. But a couple days ago I gave him bath crayons, showed him how to use them, and off he went! He sat there manipulating them with his hands for a good long time until he figured out which end made the marks and how to hold the crayon so it would mark on the tub. He's so smart!

This gave me new hope for the spoon, so I gave it to him last night when he was eating spaghetti. He figured out how to very carefully bring the spoon to his mouth with one hand while holding it steady with the other all the way into his mouth. Then he'd chomp down and look up at us proudly. We'd clap and shout "Yeay Sebastien!" And tonight, I held out a bowl of pudding, and he expertly dunked the spoon in the bowl to scoop some pudding up, and then carefully guided the spoon to his mouth to eat.



Drawing in the bath, looking like quite the intense artist.

Sebastien started daycare this week. We thought (and we realize now we hoped just a little) that he might have a hard time, that he'd cry when we leave, that he'd be excited to come home. But no...our little grown up boy absolutely loves daycare. He's happy to see his friends in the morning, and though he's happy to see us when we pick him up, I can tell he'd rather us all just hang out in the play room together instead of going home.

He also did his first art project this week. We were so proud! On Tuesday he fingerpainted a styrofoam cut-out of an apple. And he did a great job! And today he also colored a picture of an apple with crayon. His class is doing an "apple" theme for the next couple of weeks, and then they'll go on a field trip to pick apples in the country.

It's strange how much just this one week of new experience has changed him. He came home from the first day somehow seeming a lot older, more in control of himself, more sociable. And he just talked and talked and talked, telling us all about his day. Too bad we can't understand a word he's saying. If I could understand even just one word, I'd put it here in this Blog. But for now, we'll have to just trust that his smiles and happiness say all we need to know.

Here are some things Sebastien loves:
pancakes
banana pancakes
blueberry pancakes
banana-blueberry pancakes
(seriously...the kid goes nuts for pancakes)
brushing his teeth
laying his head on the kitties
"Doggies" by Sandra Boynton
Lids - he's really good at screwing them on and off
did I mention pancakes?
the corners of his blanket
flirting with ladies who think he's cute
powder on his butt
opening and closing doors
Clifford the Big Red Dog
Ducks

Also, Sebastien already knows how to spend mom's and dad's money. Today I had my debit card in my hand (getting him pancakes), and he took it right out of my hand and gave it to the cashier. I've had him "help" me give it to cashiers a couple times before, but it's a skill he seems to have a natural knack for.

Playing at the park.

In my office trash can today I found a padlock, two boxes of bank checks, a tube of lotion, several alphabet blocks, and a stuffed animal frog.

Sebastien is definitely ready to spend time with kids his own age. He's completely bored with mom and dad. He's happiest when we go for a walk and start out toward the park. As soon as he sees the big jungle gym he starts reaching out for it very insistently - and very loudly. He just about comes out of his stroller he wants to get there so quickly. He loves watching other kids play and run around, and he holds his own on the jungle gym too. He climbs up the steps, finds the slide, then turns around and goes down the slide backwards on his tummy. Then, once he's down on the ground, he generally starts to eat the dirt. We say "YUCK!!" and then he looks at us and holds the handful of dirt out for us to take it from him.

He's also obsessed with throwing things in the garbage. Any little tiny piece of lint or carpet that he finds around the house, he'll pick up and take it straight to the garbage to throw away. And anything I need thrown away, I'll give to him and say, "Will you throw this in the garbage?" and he does it right away. But at the end of the night, I generally check the trash can because I also find all manner of non-trash things in there - blocks, cups, toys, lids, anything he gets in his mind to throw away. Such a funny kid.