PopLee Ponderings

Dressup

Marina Lee — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:28:52 GMT

You might not know it, but this is Sebastien getting dressed for school today.

Mihai's commentary on why:

Don't know. He did it and was laughing. He then laid down on it without
clothes on but I figured we don't need that picture.

(I particularly like his feet off to the right).
Photo might not be sized properely, live with it.

Ice Skating

Marina Lee — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:54:00 GMT

Sebastien and I went ice skating on Sunday. He had been talking about
'falling down' ice skates for weeks. Especially after our last attempt
to ice skate was aborted after falling to acquire a parking spot! I
could only imagine how crowded the rink was.

This time we were prepared. We got there BEFORE the open skate was
supposed to start. Time to pay, find skates, and get them laced.
Sebastien 'skated' last year with Mihai on plastic ice and double
bladed skates. This was his first time on real ice and with single
bladed skates ie "Falling Down Skates". We got on the ice and I
quickly reached the decision that this was a terrible idea. His feet
were going everywhere, I had no idea where to begin to help him figure
it out, and he was less than interested in listening to me. I was
adamant about making fists when he fell down. Not that he could get up
on his own. We did a few laps with one hand on the boards and my
balancing him with his other hand. He tripped all over the toe pick
and his skates. Eventually he figured out he could use the boards to
get back up. A few more laps. And then I needed a lunch break. (I was
ready to leave). Restored blood sugars, off we went again. After a lap
he was NOT AT ALL INTERESTED in my help. Off we went trying to figure
out his feet. And he did it! (for six or so steps and then down on the
ice in a heap). By now he had figured out how to stand up without his
feet moving out behind). And around the rink we went. Him skating and
falling (managing most times to twist around while falling to land on
his stomach) and getting back up again. One lap around, and twenty or
so trips to the ice, and I was ready to leave. I don't think it even
occurred to Sebastien to give up! I was in absolute awe of this little
boy who was determined to figure it out! I was almost moved to tears
when he told me "I don't want your help!" Two laps latter and he was
ready to leave. He knew I was proud of his accomplishment, and he used
it to get some candy out of me after nap time....

When we got home he drew this picture of the faling down ice skate
man. Those are skates on the feet. With just one blade.

Enjoy.

Rescue Helicopter

Marina Lee — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:06:35 GMT

An original piece of construction courtesy of Sebastien.

A rescue helicopeter.

You can hear a clip of his describing it.

Bear in a Cave

Marina Lee — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:59:39 GMT

Sebastien drew this the other morning. The colors carefully match his
lovey 'Bear'. (We own three of them, two bumpy Bear's, and one Soft
Bear, for some reason less loved).

Bear's 'name' is written above (or to the side as the case may be).

Scuba by Sebastien

Marina Lee — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:12:58 GMT

Another drawing. Sebastien really enjoys drawing. So much so that the
teachers are coming up with more art projects for all the kids in his
class to do.

This one is a of a man scuba diving. Along with his submarine, a
shark, and a fish.

Princess Bride: Cliffs of Insanity by Sebastien

Marina Lee — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:10:56 GMT

The Saturday of The Snow Storm of 2009, Sebastien watched the Princess
Bride at our neighbor's house. (He watched and apparently remembered a
remarkable amount of the movie). In one memorable scene, two parties
are scaling a cliff, having arrived at the foot of the cliff by boat.
Once atop of the cliff there is a sword fight scene.

One month later, Sebastien drew the following picture. We had not
talked about the movie. He made the drawing at school.

A little interpretation: Orange cliff, with orange sail boat at the
bottom. Blue rope, with two blue people climbing. Both carrying orange
swords.

We are astounded at his memory, accuracy, and his use of color!

May your day be Merry

Marina Lee — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:28:29 GMT

As you can see, the kids were overwhelmed with presents.

Sebastien got his stocking first thing in the morning, and had to play
with EVERY item. He then waited till after breakfast and some TV
before ripping into his presents. It took some persuasion to open only
one at a time, and to prevent him from punching out his brother every
time Tristan came to play. Tristan liked ripping the wrapping paper
and was demanding for his toys. But lost interest quickly. The best
part of Christmas for Tristan is the tree and the decorations. Very
few of them will be left on our 'tree' by the end of the day.

May your day be full of family and fun.

Winter Wonderland

Marina Lee — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:24:38 GMT

Sebastien was an Eskimo in a past life! This afternoon, walking back
from the playground, I asked Sebastien what he would tell his teacher
that he did this weekend. "Play in the snow, Shovel, Sled, Sleep,
Sled, Sleep, play in the snow, sled, sleep, sled, play in the snow".
That was his weekend. With some baking and tv thrown in for good
measure.

Atleast 18 inches of snow. Mihai shoveled our both our cars, our
driveway and sidewalk, the neighbors sidewalk, and a path around to
the back of the house to the back door. A whole lot of shoveling. He
got inspiration from the neighbors and tunneled an igloo out of the
snow/ice. Sebastien had fun undoing that work and the cleared
pathways. We put some bird seed out. and then he proceeded to sit by
the bird bath calling for the birds. They didn't come. Someone was
quite upset.

Tristan couldn't decide what to make of the snow.That's not true. He
knows he doesn't like a face full of snow. The rest of it is still up
for debate. He wants to be outside, but would currently prefer the
white stuff weren't there. Sledding is not yet his thing. Especially
when sledding with Daddy involves a face full of the white stuff. I
figured out a way to keep his fingers not wet, which was likely the
problem the first time. Double gloves. While I glove him up, he opens
and closes and open and closes his fist. Cute. Until he figures out he
can use his teeth to get the gloves off. The gloves that took five
minutes to get all the fingers lined up in properly....

Opps

Marina Lee — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:23:54 GMT

Well. What is the holiday season without a little vice?!

Both my kids had a first.

Tristan took his first sip of beer. We were at a neighbors house
having lunch after a play in the snow. Tristan was walking around.
Picked up an almost empty bear bottle, from teh recycling. Took a
swig. And promptly threw up his lunch. (Who wouldn't throw up after
drinking day old beer?)

Fireman Mike came over for dinner tonight. We gave him a small present
of a slots dice game. And then we, sebastien included, proceeded to
play a few rounds. Two cent buy in ("look the gold one!"). I think we
all lost, although Mike lost the least. Mihai probably lost the most.

Happy Winter Solstice (almost)!

First haircut

Marina Lee — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 03:48:06 GMT

I had been meaning to take Tristan to the kids hair cut place, but he
always had a runny nose.
Finally Cheryl nagged me into getting the hair out of his eyes.

We did it together (with a little food to keep the child entertained).
It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

A few days later I cut Sebastien's hair, at his request! The bangs
aren't quite straight. But he is never still long enough for anyone to
notice!

Belated Tristan Birthday

Marina Lee — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 03:42:57 GMT

We celebrated Tristan's birthday late this year. On his birthday he
was on day two of what turned out to be a five day fever. Not the flu.
But miserable none the less. We celebrated two or three weeks later up
at Cheryl and Dan's house. They were kind enough to let the friends
gather at their house for a celebration.

The photos are self explanatory.

Sebastien Swimming with his Daddy

Marina Lee — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:59:12 GMT

Filmed on Saturday morning on our way to Rhode Island for our vacation. The only time in the holiday that Sebastien swam. Too scared of waves at the beach.

Climbing

Marina Lee — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:29:48 GMT

We don't remember Sebastien being such an adept climber. But then we didn't
have the toddler table and chairs at a similar age. Yesterday Tristan pushed
a toddler chair over to the dining table so that he could see what Sebastien
and I were doing...

Tristans Tricks

Marina Lee — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:12:02 GMT

One of the highlights of our vacation was spending that much time with
Tristan. We got to know his tricks and he learned a few more from his dad.
The ones in the video would be: Hello, Goodbye and Peekabo.

Our house from the back

Marina Lee — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:10:13 GMT

It does photograph well.

But the lack of air conditioning.
Plus mosquitoes
and the possibilities of ticks....

Lyme disease is named for a place in Connecticut, not a person.

Rhode Island Vacation

Marina Lee — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:08:37 GMT

Photos from our vacation in Rhode Island. This is an email blog post, so I
can't caption each photo.

This first is a family shot in the Crayola Factory (Easton, PA). A bit of a
misnomer as you pay money to get into the building to play with all of
crayola's products. The saving grace being you don't have to exit through
the gift shop as you do most museums. The crayola store is two doors down :)
And we paid a visit. Bought Sebastien another set of markers. (Useful thing
learned during the crayon making demonstration: you can rehydrate dried out
markers with a water soak. Put the cap back on and they should be good as
new). We were foolish this night and pushed on to New Jersey. Got lost.
Arrived at the hotel past the point of good boys. No one slept till well
past ten. Mihai and I then hid out in the bathroom surfing the internet....
Anyway. Sebastien had a red marker in the back of the car with him.... Next
thing I know it was all over his face, hands and arms. "Like a Pirate". He'd
has his face painted two weeks prior. Not a happy mother.

We stopped in New Haven for a hamburger place I'd read about in the best
hamburgers of america book. It had closed. But I did manage to get a photo
of Sebastien in front of some Yale building with his Teddy bear. Will save
this one for when he actually does head of to university (hopefully without
teddy bear.

Next two, Sebastien at the beach. It was one great big sand box. Waves were
not very popular. The only time he went into the ocean was to pee and wash
off. By the last day he was lying on a body board at the edge of the surf,
"surfing'.

Tristan hung out at the beach in Philips boat, cousin. He really just wanted
out to eat the sand...

Mihai at the outdoor shower. Septic system at the house, better to use
outdoor shower. a little vague in the details. But with the heat (90F) and
the humidity showers were a necessary part of cooling off. In evening a
shower outside was nice as the beach breeze finally blew across the pond and
into the outdoor shower.

Some of the mornings were FOGGY. did not stop the boys from enjoying the
beach. Betty and I walked Tristan one morning and shopped the outlets (one
hour away) another morning.

We spent two days in Mystic. Where the boys did get to go sailing. The wind
was shifty and the river shallow. So the sailing wasn't excellent, but at
least they sailed. Sebastien spent a lot of the trip yelling "Hep-a-la". Not
sure why. Could be his version of "Anchors away!". This is after getting
yelled at by his father for not moving out of the way fast enough. Not sure
about Captain's rules, yet.

The best money we spent was having the boys (little, with a lot of input
from the dads) build boats at the Maritime Museum. They spent hours playing
with them. Especially after Mihai gave them all anchors. Sebastien even
brought his to the table. I'm pretty sure we put our foot down on bringing
it to bed. Bed time was bad enough without boats in the mix. The older boys
slept together. Tristan was with Mihai and I. We got to know the local
coffee shop Very well.

The anchor was useful when Mihai and Sebastien took the row boat (that
leaked) out onto the pond to test Mihai's sail boat. Both of which are
pictured.

And then the photo of the Mihai and Sebastien in the surf. Probably getting
clean.

Mystic Seaport

Marina Lee — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:27:58 GMT

We spent last week in Rhode Island with Mihai's brother Ion and his family.
We used the house as a launching pad for the beach and for Mystic, CT
(seaport, aquarium, pizza, and ice cream). We bought the younger boys
tshirts to commerate the trip. Sebatien insisted on wearing his to bed that
night (it glows in the dark). The next day all three boys wore their shirts.
Ion took these photos near the beach. It was damp and foggy. The waves were
from the Hurricane 'C' that was heading up the coast (but missed us entirely
despite the forecasts).
Getting three boys to cooeprate for a photo: impossible.

Wee Ski and Dance

Marina Lee — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 20:17:19 GMT

Follow the link to see Zanna having fun on skis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_PsOnzT3iQ

Good thing it is a few more months till ski season.

Breakfast

Marina Lee — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:00:33 GMT

Sebastien is helping get ready for our party. Rice Krispie treats.

I think it counts as breakfast. I'm sure it did this day.

(I'm on a food kick. Imagine that).

American As Apple Pie Party

Marina Lee — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:00:14 GMT

We had an "American As Apple Pie" party to celebrate my becoming a US
Citizen. Our neighbors, the Mulhollands, kindly hosted.

We had hot dogs and Mac'N'Cheese for the kids. But they really just
ate potato chips (to our dismay).
And for the biggies we had chicken and Beef satay. Gado Gado
(Indonesian steamed salad). Corn. Zucchinis.
Yummy Apple pie, Stars & Stripes jello, USA Rice Krispies.

Something american and somethings not. All around too much food. but
delicious.

A face to love

Marina Lee — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:58:20 GMT

I think tristan must have been feeding himself.

Or his father had been hitting the bottle a little early in the morning.

Regardless, our little tyke likes to feed himself. and is quite
proficient at geeting little chunks of food to his mouth.

He does have a system of trying food with his tongue outside of his
mouth. Easier to spit out if it does not meet his standards. But as
he loves to grab fist fuls of cat food, I'm not sure where his
standards are.

Three Men

Marina Lee — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:58:03 GMT

Sebastien wanted to help top his brother off this morning.

you don't need the gory details, but there are my three men with just
one eating.

Goddard Space Center

Marina Lee — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:24:28 GMT

This past weekend we drove out to Beltsville, MD to the Goddard Space Center
to buy
Sebastien the helmet that he had earned for going to sleep for three
nights in a row without kicking and screaming. He had been sick those
nights, but whatever we could use to get him going to sleep without
pitching a fit. After calling seven nearby toy stores, and none of
them having the astronaut-helmet-like-nicholas-has, this was our last
try and lucky us they had it. The center is nice, but probably better
for older kids.

sebastien promptly lost the helmet that night with really bad bedtime
behaviour....

Space Man

Marina Lee — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:24:00 GMT

They did have an outfit that could be borrowed by the kids to wear around.

Ain't he cute?

Marina Lee — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:23:39 GMT

Tristan is now routinely pulling himself up to standing. Pictured here at
his kitchen.

Today Mihai caught him walking his play table across the floor,
probably not on purpose, but he is on the bipedal move (with zimmer).

Tristan also crawled up three steps today at daycare. And then showed
us his skills this evening by climbing up on sebastien's kitchen
stool. Not sure what to do about that new found skill.

yes, that is a fire fighter in my mouth.

Marina Lee — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:38:28 GMT

from today
tristan is teething
something must be in his mouth at all times.

preferably food

Favorites

Marina Lee — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:37:46 GMT

One of Tristan's favorite things to do. Empty out the pots and pans.

i should mention, he is very quick to voice an opinion.
Take away his favorite toy, quick tears and cries. with a few 'ma ma ma
ma's' thrown in.
heart rendering.

ALL in bed

Marina Lee — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:36:16 GMT

Probably from the middle of our VERY BAD sleeping. but everyone is
tucked it, not for the night.

May 25

5 In the Tub

Marina Lee — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:35:53 GMT

We were up at the Warren's the other weekend. (may 24th). Cheryl and
Dan let Sebastien play while Mihai Tristan and i went to a wedding.
The highlight of the day might have been bath time. The only kid not
in the tub is Tristan. he had bathed earlier. From the color of the
water I think they were just transfering dirt.

Pirate Sebastien

Marina Lee — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:23:53 GMT

From a few weeks ago. The costum was a christmas present from the Warrens.
Saved my his mother for a rainy day.

The balloon sword came from a birthday party we had been to.

Tristan's new moves

Mihai Pop — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:49:00 GMT

It's amazing how fast things change in a baby's world. After being gone for just two days I came home to Tristan working hard on sitting himself up. In just a few hours he figured out how to do it and started practicing his newfound skill. As a precaution we lowered the mattress in his crib and good thing we did. The next morning we found him sitting up in the corner of the crib, desperately trying to grab a foot that had slipped between the grates. I guess he's still intrigued by his toes.

This weekend he's also become more interested in food to the point of trying to feed himself. He's quite a pro at shoving a pear chunk in his mouth though he has yet to figure out how to feed himself little stars (cereal snacks). As I was feeding him cereal & banana the other day he was so desperate for food that he grabbed my spoon and shoved it all in his mouth. This led to a veritable food fight. I was trying to wrestle the spoon away from him when he let go and splat the banana went onto the wall. Next week we'll work on flipping pancakes.

Testing

Marina Lee — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:55:36 GMT

Blogging will be easier if I can email to my blog.

In the Bathroom

Marina Lee — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:40:00 GMT

Some Potty stories. I'm on the potty not sebastien. There is no peace in the restroom while he is awake.

Sebastien comments, "You don't have a pee-pee. Your pee-pee is in your poo-poo". I'm wondering where he gets this information. The conversation started when he inquired as to where the cats pee-pee was. (She has a UTI, which may explain why she has peed on my bed THREE times and pooed once.)

Peering between my legs "Where is your owie? you had an owie yesterday." He unfortunately had observed some post-partum bleeding, months ago.

And as you aren't reading this for stories, some old photos. From Sebastien's actually birthday.

Sleeping baby. We were out on the trail, looking at cherry blossoms and sebastien was trying out his new wheels.

Birthday and hats

Marina Lee — Mon, 04 May 2009 02:01:00 GMT

sebastien and his dad on sebastien's third birthday. mihai outfitted him for the workshop.

I've been taking sebastien to swim lessons. the swim team was practising before our lesson. after we left sebastien kept going on about a swimming hat. he needed new googles. so he got both on monday. after deciding that he wanted to wear underwear to school. we've been in under wear all week. a few accidents but the whole week has been easier than i had imagined. still working on poo-poo on the potty. but the pee pee is going really well.

a rare phot of me with my boys.

Sebstien with his lego station on wheels that he built all by himself. and carefully put away from tristan's reach for three nights. i was impressed on all fronts.

i was a horrible mean mother and took sebastien's pacifier away on his third birthday. nights have been TOUGH while we have been figuring out how to sleep without 'ba'. HORRIBLE. should have pulled it long ago. all the presents and rewards for peeing in the potty should be making up for it. it is amazing how quickly he is growing up. he is not a little boy anymore. our friends and neighbors brought him a birthday present on friday. bingo. there is a dvd that calls the numbers. he LOVES it. and surprising to his parents, follows the game quite well. we have had to play every night before bed. he might like it because he wins....

tristan's latest thing is sticking out his fat little tongue. hard to nurse that way. but it is a nicer way of telling his mother he is done than biting.... seven months big. still army crawling. revving up to crawl on hands and knees, but not there yet. also can't sit himself up from lying down. which means his bed is still high up. thankfully for our backs. tristan has been sleepign from ten till six on the doctors orders for the last two weeks. i'm greedy. i want more sleep.

enjoy the rain.

Back Again

Marina Lee — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:39:26 GMT

sorry for the long absence. Life with two is a lot busier. And three times and tiring.

Two movies we made last week:

The first is a belated birthday for my father, the boys Ah Kong.

The next is the two boys playing together.

I love them both.

Updates

Marina Lee — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:04:00 GMT

I forgot how hard life was with an infant.... complicated by the fact that Sebastien has been sick. He came down with a runny runny nose the day Tristan was born. This past weekend he had a case of diarrhea. Followed by a high fever and vomiting. Lots of sheets laundered that night. Sebastien and Mihai slept in our bed while Tristan and I slept in Tristan's room. What fun.

Sebastien was back at daycare today and Tristan and I are slowly figuring each other out. Last night he gave us a five hour block of sleep! I don't know what I did right yesterday, but may it repeat itself!

Andrei and his family were in town our first week home withTristan. Last saturday my boys meet up with their family to go to the Natural History museum. And more memorably ride the carousel. The blue horse featured in some crying.

The weather had been perfect that week for sebastien to play in his sand box out front. added bonus i could see him through the window while breastfeeding. the light was nice in the late afternoon.

My sister suzanna sent up a tigger custom for halloween. Sebastien could not attend his daycare party, so lets hope the stars are aligned for friday afternoon. but he is rather taken with having a tail.

Sebastien feeding his baby....

Bath time with bubbles. this was a rather quiet bath time, but the bathroom was a diaster afterwards.

Tristan's first sojurn outside (not including the trip from hospital or to doctors office). Two weeks into life. same day as his first bath.

Playing on the floor together. you can get a good glimpse up tristan's nose to see there are no buggers. he is still congested. which means lots of saline, and sometimes some presents on your shirt.

And my favorites: sleeping. taken in the last three days...

I think today could well be the start of pimply baby. We are starting to see little red dots all over his face.

oh yeah. we went to the doctor monday. tristan is now at 11 lbs 9.5 ounces. he is gaining his 1 ounce a day. i feel like i'm not doing my job, as sebastien was gaining three ounces a day! i know all kids are different, and it's not a competion, but tristan is not gaining as well/fast as his brother and it could be my fault. it doesn't help that he likes to fall asleep while eating.

Family Visiting

Marina Lee — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:24:00 GMT

Suzanna and her gang came up for the day to meet Tristan and to drop off a bassinet that her friend had given us. Suzanna has become very proficient in her skills with her SLR camera and was kind enough to take some photos of Tristan and some with mother and new son (photos that are lacking with Sebastien).

Picassa: Tristan's 1st Day Home.

Tristan saw our pediatrician today. I proud to say that his weight has stopped going down. A piece of mind for his cow. We are still waiting for some pee and some poo. Give me a P! (or two). The milk is in, so hopefully that will happen soon.

I forgot that the labor is the easiest part of this whole process.....

Tristan Lee Pop - priceless

Mihai Pop — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:31:00 GMT

First, the stats:
Born 10/10/08
11 lbs, 24 in (a whopper of a boy)

Labor was easier than with Sebastien. It still HURT. Note to self: do not repeat [if you do, exercise a lot].
If it's any indication of how pushing went, mother heard an ominous 'pop' indicating baby's clavicle did not withstand being squished out of the body. We're told he'll heal in no time.

On the bright side, we are now back to counting pees, poos, and feeds. Anybody up for some data analysis? The score sofar: 3 poos, 1 pee, 20 feeds.

Big brother Sebi is excited about Baby Brother. How long this will last, we don't know. Granny and Ah Kong have made sure Sebi got plenty of personalized attention and he doesn't seem to miss Mummy and Daddy (except at night).

But enough chatter, here's the little boy. Hopefully we'll head on tonight and sleep in our own beds.

Promised Phots

Marina Lee — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:11:00 GMT

Sebastien Thursday morning with his splint. Big grin on his face.

Thursday night with the cast. Quite happy. He had crawled around earlier on in the evening.

Cool Man this afternoon. I put him in at his request. Mihai tells me that he tried to put weight on it, said ouch, and then slowly figured out how to sit back down.

Sebastien is doing well. not letting the cast slow down his playing. Mummy will recover. If you are looking at the bright side of life, perhaps when the new baby comes along, it will seem like a walk in the park?! (wishful thinking).

Photos from previous weeks:

Last weekend we were down in willliamsburg visiting oli and aurora and stella. the vacation included a dip/or toss in the pool (depending on prespective).

For father's day we went boating. Sebastien was enchanted with the boats, wanted to help row, and would NOT take off his life jacket.

No good very bad day update

Marina Lee — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:54:00 GMT

Apparently friends have not given up on my blogging ability. Thank you. Pictures will come. (but I'm at work <shh>.

Sebastien got his cast yesterday. Below his knee, over his foot. He can walk on it, when he so chooses. White. The only bells & whistles is that it doesn't have to be cut off. The doctor can unwind it. He says that the fracture is not severe, if it were worse the cast would extend past the knee. which is still a possibility of sebastien is uncomfortable. how we determine that I do not know. We are looking at four weeks with a cast.

I think sebastien has some general pain & discomfort, but I haven't noticed movement of the left leg triggering a crying response. And he did actually crawl on it last night. Made me feel a little better. Apart from frustration that he can't get things (that he has usually flung away from him), he is a happy little boy. He is doing better than we are. (By we, I mean me. I'm trying really hard to not keep asking him 'are you okay?'. On the other hand, in the last few weeks sebastien has taken to asking mihai and i if we are okay whenever we cough.... really cute).

Mihai and Sebastien are at home today. We are observing, smoothering and generally spoiling him. Sebi will go to daycare when Mihai and I are comfortable with him being with other (reckless) kids.

Terrible Horrible No Good Very bad Day

Marina Lee — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:13:00 GMT

In case anyone is reading.

Sorry to disappoint with no pics, but this is a mummy rant.

My baby fractured his leg today <wail>. He was helping to clean up at school when he fell down and hurt himself. I was told there was a lot of tears. but when i showed up forty minutes later he was quietly sitting on the counter (without bear and pacifier) eating animal crackers. There was noise when he tried to put weight on it, but otherwise rather happy.

The ER put a splint on. we need to make an appointment wtih an pediatric orthopedist to get a cast, which he will have to wear for 4 to 6 weeks. Not sure if it will be a walking cast. I cannot imagine my baby not being able to get himself around for one month. my little boy who loves to run, and ride bikes, play on his scooter, and try and skate board on his trains (i think he means roller skate, but who am i too correct him?!) No swings. No slides. Except for reading books and playing with cars, I'm not sure what he can do!

<sniff> <sniff>

Getting to Know

Marina Lee — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:24:00 GMT

We went in for an ultrasound the other day to check on baby's development and to find out it's sex. A good thing we wanted to know, because it was the first thing the technician found. Sebastien will have a little bother brother. Let's hope he is learning how to share well at daycare.

The baby has ten fingers, ten toes, heart & spine development look normal. Whew. We had declined first trimester screening. So it was good to know all was growing as it should. We are still on track for a late September delivery. The technician tells us that baby is the weight of a full can of coke. No length measurements. His placenta is along the back of my utereus (part closest to my back). Which could explain why I feel so much more movement now. Luckily for us, the radiology center had just upgraded the ultrasound machine, so we could get 3D images. Of no diagnostic value in this case, but pretty.

A few of our favorite things....

Marina Lee — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:10:00 GMT

Airplanes & Firetrucks.

On Saturday we drove over to College Park to visit the Aviation Museum. While not the most expansive museum on the subject matter, it is very kid friendly. Hands on exhibits at child height. Puzzles. Stamping. Dress Up. And best of all, you can climb into an old two person airplane and press levers, pull up on the wheel, and steer. Every action made the appropriate piece of airplane to move. We (sebastien) may have hogged this activity.

On Sunday the Warrens and the Symzers came down to play and visit Mike at the fire house! The kids came home with helmets after having a go at driving Mike's fire engine. (And yes, it is Mike's personal engine, the one weekend a month that he is at the house.) The visit ended with the firemen answering a call. I wouldn't say a real rush to get on their gear, but they did go out with a blaze of flashing lights and sirens. What more could a kid want?! Fun for the adults as well! Did you know that 'shotgun' has foot pedals to control the sirens and horn?! And the safest place, from a spouses perspective, is the driver of the pump truck. If you get to the scene at the right time, you stand at the truck and make sure it is pumping to water to the hoses that the other members of the truck are holding, much closer to the scene. My bias. I'm glad fireman Mike is the engine driver. (I really hope I got the name of the truck right. Sebastien has not reached that stage of the naming game. But he does know a digger, from a front-loader, from a back-hoe.)

Sebastien was reluctant to sit in the drivers seat the first time. After that he just kept climbing back up every time that Fireman Mike took him down for the next kid's turn.

Almost group shot. Dan & Adrienne are to Mike's right and Mihai is taking the photo.

The Best Mother's Day Present

Marina Lee — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:12:00 GMT

Sorry for the long delay in posting. I have a good excuse. More about that later. The inspiration for today's blog is my mother's day present.

I pull up into the drive just after Mihai and Sebastien get home. Mihai had pick up, and I knew they had been to the grocery store. Mihai goes to open the door, Sebastien, after moving off the driveway when I pull up (good boy), goes back to the car and asks Mummy to 'press button', to open the trunk. I figure I'll help Mihai bring in groceries.

As soon as the trunk is open Sebastien says 'Ant toy' (want toy). And I'm thinking, Mihai took him to the toystore again?! (I'm rather proud of the restraint I show in not always buying toys when I walk in stores). Sebastien starts pointing at the huge bag of goodies Mihai keeps in the trunk, 'Toy dere'. And the next thing I see is MarioKart Wii.

My mothers day present. Apparently Sebastien does get the whole present for mummy in a few days time. He wanted to open the box and 'watch boy driving'. So after a very ill eaten dinner on his part, we turn on the TV to play Wii. Both my men have now played, maybe I will wait till Sunday. Or not.

Other news, to catch some of you up. The end of February we bought me a new car. Subaru Impreza Outback Sport. Google search if you want a pick. I had been driving Mihai's eight year old Golf. Good enough, if not for a mold problem, but I wanted something with a little more leg room for my growing boy and family. Late September there will be an addition to our family. I will be twenty weeks next week and we will have an ultrasound to figure out if I keep the eight tubs of boy clothing, or if they will be given away to make room in my sewing room for a baby.
more up to date pictures to follow. Suffice it to say I am no longer looking fat. And baby likes to kick. Mihai felt the flutter the other afternoon. In his words, "not quite as exciting as the first time, I know what's coming." I had to concur.

Other photos of my sweet (most of the time) boy. He has hit the tantrum stage. Let's hope for everyone's sake it doesn't last too long.

Suzanna, Mia, and Nikolas drove up for the afternoon in the middle of April to suprise Granny and Ah Kong and to celebrate Sebastien't birthday. Mia and my red-nosed reindeer helped themselves to their afternoon snack.

(Suzanna, be grateful here that I did not include the photo of your black 'glasses' AKA train wheels).

Sebastien at the breakfast the next day with the tea set from Granny and Ah Kong. He insisted.

Sebastien's snorkel. Mihai set it up. His bob the builder workshop glasses and a straw. Already to go swimming with Uncle Ion. Except for the swimming bit. He probably has floating down pat.

December

Marina Lee — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 01:00:00 GMT

A catch up of photos at my sisters request.

In December, Linda and Kirby had us over to make and decorate cookies. Sebastien enjoyed this outing... cutting, rolling, icing, eating. Right up his alley. Afterwards we went to a nearby fire house to see their model train exhibit (no pictures). A wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Thank you.

Some undetermined time in December (pre haircut). Having fun in a box with his 'sticka' overalls. Hand me downs from cousin Nikolas that are much loved.

Christmas Day. Moving too quickly for our camera to capture.

Playing with the dump truck from Ah Kong and Granny.

Mihai had a birthday at the end of the month. While Sebastien was under whelmed with the candle part of the celebration. The eating cake met with his approval. 'Cak'.

Lia came to visit us after Christmas, to help us with Sebastien while day care was closed. Ion (Mihai's middle brother) and his family came to visit us as well. The boys went to museums while the women shopped. And SHopped. And shopped. The young ones played video games. which sebastien throughly enjoyed. Apparently, Mihai has been teaching Sebastien to yell, 'GO, Go, Go' when taking off from red lights. This skill came in handy will cheering on his cousins while driving Mario Kart. During this period SEbastien learnt how to turn on the TV and plug in the controlers....

With Uncle Ion at the zoo. Mihai got tired of schlepping around 34lbs on his shoulders.

Cousin Ion took very good care of Sebastien. Playing with him around the house and keeping him from trouble on the play grounds.

Huge fit after visiting the air and space museum. Mihai tried to put him down to nap in his stroller. After 10 minutes of calming him down fire engines decided to circle The Mall. Sebastien wanted to go see them. THe only way to get him to calm down again was to tell sebastien they were going that way. (and then proceded to head home).

Mihai got all the kids to look for gold bug in the Richard Scary book. I never thought i would like that book this much. It has the ability to keep children quite for stretches of time.

Sebastien opened this bag of chips up all by himself. While I feel I should be worried. I am rather proud.

Reading with Lia.

And finally. Today was the first day Lia was left alone with Sebastien. I was scared of what I would find when I got home. A sleeping baby (three hour nap)! Who had helped Lia clean the house. Good thing he has his own broom. He did however manage to get his hands on our camera and take a few pictures. Lia figured out he was up to something when it got quiet for a long period of time. She found him lying on the floor with the camera. Enjoy.

Snow!

Marina Lee — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 03:36:00 GMT

    I can't believe we actually got snow! I had heard in the forcast that there would be snow, but who many times are they actually right?

    Woke up this morning and did not think to check outside (or the internet to see if the government was on a delayed start). Mihai got Sebastien took him to the window and showed him the winter wonderland. Sebastien started screeching. (He does that when excited). Later when they went out to clean off the car and leave for the day, Sebastien got some on his hand. Did NOT like! uh uh uh-ed until Daddy wiped it off and admonished him to wear his gloves....

    When we got home this evening he first wanted me to carry him, 'no way'. and then i couldn't stop him from wandering around in the snow in our front yard. he was a little distressed with snow on his shoes, but it did not stop him from wandering. so much so that he moved faster than my camera.
Gone!

Sunday night our friend Oliver came to stay with us during his trip to the annual Cell Biology meeting. Oli gave Sebastien his space. With the end result being Sebastien quickly wanted Oliver to read him stories. I can't wait to visit oli, aurora, and stella in their new home and watch our children play together?

Trains, Games, and Excercises

Marina Lee — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 22:41:00 GMT

Happy belated Turkey Day! My family descended on our house for the holiday. Mihai cooked a wonderful meal (many meals to be honest). And despite all eleven people sleeping in our little house, we still all love each other. The weather co-operated for some out door play time. One of sebastien's favorite games is beling held while the holder tries to 'juggle' a soccer ball, feet only....

Suzanna and Michael accidently left train game behind. In what had been thought to be a safe place, in the cabinet under the blankets. Someone saw it, and it had the favorite vehicle of the day. Train. More preciselly 'choo choo train-e'. It was removed and insisted that play begin. (there are only two game pieces in play). The board will come back to you rather undamaged.

And finally. My son can do a very good Downward Dog. And I can promise I did not inspire this activity.

For more turkey photos follow the linkand scroll down. (website being un cooperative)

Words...belated

Mihai Pop — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 01:04:00 GMT

For the purposes of record keeping, here are Sebastien's words in August-September 2007 (at 16-17 months of age). Just found the sheet where we recorded them.

As for first words, I think "cat" and "dog" were among the first. "mama" and "dada" only came months later. I've starred the "early" words, i.e. words that now we remember to have been his early words. If only we'd kept better records...

airplane
* ball (ba')
* baloon (ba'oon)
banana (nana)
* bear
bike
* bird
boat
book
bus
bye bye
* car (cah')
* cat (ca')
cheese
cow
dada
* dog (woo woo)
down (dow')
duck
fish
frog
* hat ('at)
horse (shee)
Jenny (nenny)
juice
mama
more (mo')
outside (oufside)
pacifier (bah)
penguin (pimbin)
sheep
shoe
squirrel (squibah)
train
truck
up (upff)
water (wawa)

Penguin & Pumpkins

Marina Lee — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:54:00 GMT

    Two weekends ago we went to the pumpkin patch! Took a drive out in a 'tractor' and picked a 'pumpkin'. Sebastien was only interested in the tractor. They had a petting farm where he demonstrated his knowledge of animal names, including goat. Not a word that Mihai or I taught him. Everyday we are astounded by the new things he can do, especially the words we did not teach him.

    Today was the Halloween party at daycare. I had not planned on making him a costum. But then Jenny called to say there would be a party and to bring a costume. Peer pressure. I went to AC Moore. bought an adult xl sweatshirt, some felt and a monkey head head. Cut and sewed and cut some more to add some more fabric and sewed and glued and came up with a penguin costume for less than 10 dollars. (I mention the price because then mihai went out and bought 48 dollars worth of candy! he really thinks we will need that much. thank you to faith for purchasing some of that from us and saving me the trouble of going back to the grocery store.) This morning he wanted nothing to do with the costume, 'off off' shake head. Apparently this afternoon he couldn't get it on fast enough, to go outside and join the other kids.

      Have some movies to post as well. Pester Mihai to get them up

Not England

Marina Lee — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 01:18:00 GMT

Well, I know I should be blogging our vacation to england, but.... too many pictures. Follow link to picassa web album of photos.

Instead I found these two photos from September. Sebastien likes pigs and picking up coins. My family sent us a piggy bank when Sebastien was born....

He has figured out the idea of deposits, small objects in hole. I was quite proud, and sure that Ah Kong would be happy that Sebastien was learning about saving at a young age (never to young)....

Unfortunately, he figured out withdrawals rather quickly, and probably credit. I had to adjust the opening so that he could get the coins in. His wrist doesn't bend that way. The hole has to move. He then put two and two together and figured out the lid can come off and his fat little hands can go in. Take money out. Close lid. Repeat.

And then for a few days he would insist we take the piggy bank down so that he could play. and we obligingly gave him our change (the coffee baristas are losing out on tips, saving the change for my child...)