June
June started out with a visit from Drew, Alli and Anna who came to Massachusetts for the Holy Cross ten year reunion. We loved spending time with them and Nick liked showing Sebastien off to all his fellow Holy Cross alums. Nancy and Fred were nice enough to come up to Worcester to watch Sebastien and Anna for us so that we could go to the Saturday night reunion dinner. Later that week, we went to Provincetown for Judy and Annie’s wedding. They had a beautiful ceremony followed by a fabulous lunch and we loved celebrating such a special occasion with them. Sebastien had his four month check-up, where he clocked in at 16lbs and 26in even. We started – and then stopped – solid foods, as shown in the picture post below and will give it another go at the 6 month mark. Sharon came to visit and we took a road trip to see Bridget and Ryan’s new apartment. Ashlyn came to Boston for a couple days and got to attend Sebastien’s music class with us. Sebastien and I had a fancy lunch with two partners from PwC, where I spent most of the time wrestling him while trying to hold an adult conversation! I had my exit interview with work and turned in my computer so I am officially a stay at home mom, although they assured me they’d welcome me back at any time. We had dinner with Sully and Lauren at Picco, where Sebastien tried a taste of cinnamon ice cream and was not impressed, as usual. We finished up our Caterpillars class, saying goodbye to a lot of our new friends, and signed up for the next class in the series. In the last week in June, we took our first family vacation to Acadia National Park in Maine. We spent the first few days eating lobster and wild blueberries and hiking in the park. Mid-week, both sets of grandparents joined us at the house and we continued our tour of the area, including dragging them all along a four mile VERY STEEP hike up Gorham Mountain. They were troopers!
Sebastien, this month, you’ve mastered tripod sitting and even started sitting up a bit with no hands before you tip over, a skill you debuted in our music class. With the go ahead from Dr. Benz, we started rice cereal, and then tried homemade butternut squash and apples. With the exception of one squash feeding, you weren’t really a fan of any of them, even though I promised you they were delicious, so we decided to take a break for now and try again when you’re a bit older. You went through a definite 4 month sleep regression – which I didn’t know to expect until we were in the throes of it – and have come out the other side. For a few weeks, you were back to waking every hour and a half to two hours and I was starting to go nuts. Once I learned it was just a developmental thing, it was much easier to tolerate and eventually you went back to your regular sleep habits. We have been listening to two Music Together cd’s, on the recommendation of your future girlfriend Anna Larsen, as well as The Barefoot Man, which is a Caribbean tape A. Celeste sent to us when I was little and she was living in the Cayman Islands and which Grammie found on iTunes for us! Now there is more of an assortment of kids songs to get stuck in my head… You’re officially napping in your cradle 90% of the time (yes!) which means I am able to get some housework done during the day and you are beginning to stretch your naps for longer than 45 minutes at a time. We were nervous about you in the car on the 5 hour trip to Maine because historically you have not liked long car rides, but you surprised us both, sleeping 3 hours on the way there and 2.5 hours on the way home. You are now actively reaching for things that you want, instead of just whatever I hold in front of you. You get very frustrated if something is out of your reach and you can’t get to it, diving from our laps with no regard for your safety. And you are still very frustrated that you can’t crawl… you seem to have your dad’s patience! Often times when we pull you to a sitting position, you lock your knees and want to stand, although you haven’t started taking steps yet. You seem to be more aware of the babies in your classes, studying them and reaching for them when they are next to you.
A few mornings ago, after your dad got up to get ready for work and you had finished eating, I put you down in bed next to me. You laid there for a minute, then rolled over to face me, so we were nose to nose, reached out and laid your hand on my cheek, closed your eyes and fell asleep. Bliss.
