Baby Hammer

When Abey was a baby, my friend Rachael's boys called him "Baby Hammer." So I don't know why we didn't think of getting him a Baby Hammer, but don't worry--we didn't make that same mistake with Sebastian. The idea arose because Sebby's favorite toy in the whole world was a wooden mallet we had, but it was doing damage to things he banged on (toys, floors, my head, Abey's head). So finally, I bought him this plastic hammer, which theoretically will hurt things less. Anyway, he loves it. It's just the right size for his little hand, so he carries it around everywhere and bangs with it. Sometimes he hits himself in the head or the eye, and then he looks at you accusingly, but other than that he's just plain happy about it. The thing is, though---and this is what makes me wonder if it really was such a good idea (although he loves it so much, how can I resist him?)---he wants to bang on everything.



Yes, everything.

Beware the baby Hammer! Beware!

Sebastian's latest accomplishments

Besides liking to tilt his head and arch his body into a banana, Sebastian likes to point at people. He can wave bye-bye really well now, but he often does it with a pointed finger. If you see him lunging at you (as above), you can expect a poke in either a.) the eye, b.) the nose, or c.) the mouth. If it's the mouth, he wants you to bite his finger and go "omp omp omp." If it's the eye, it's probably because you have your eyes closed and he wants you to open them and look at him. (He can't stand it if I have my eyes closed while I'm nursing him. He can sense that I'm not giving him my undivided attention, and he'll come off and poke-poke-poke at my eyes until I open them. Then he'll continue eating.)

Sebastian can also clap his hands, say "more" ("mmaaah!") and sign "more," "eat," and "all done." (All those words have to do with eating, you'll notice. He is a boy that loves to eat.)

Abraham and Sebastian

Danish Heritage Night

(In case you couldn't quite see what was going on with Mom and Sebby above, here is a close-up. He loves his Grandma!)

Our Third Annual Danish Dinner was a great success, I thought. Rob talked about the Danes during WWII, and played some very nice piano pieces by Carl Nielsen. Sam told about sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, Nancy talked about the LDS Church in Denmark, and Heidi told about astronomer Tycho Brahe. We wish more of the family had been here to attend! Our menu was:

Danske salat

Frikadiller
Benløse fugle
Brunede kartofler
Ærte og gulerrødder

Æblekage
Rød grøde med fløde
Ris alamande

Vandt


Everything was delicious!

Trying to walk

As I may have mentioned, Sebastian thinks he can already walk. (He is misinformed.) Here are some pictures of him making the attempt. I don't know if he is getting any closer to actually doing it, but I like to watch him try.


Here is a picture of how curly his hair is getting (although it really only looks like this when he's sweaty, or after his bath)

Sebastian Bananas

If you've met Sebastian, you probably noticed that he's always bending sideways or backwards (we call this "banana-ing"). He likes to smile at people this way. Nobody knows why. It's really cute, but it also makes him very difficult to hold. I haven't actually dropped him (yet) but I've come close.

More about our trip

There are beautiful flowers everywhere!



This is what happens when you take a picture without looking through the viewfinder

Philip and Allison live in a beautiful community (a "planned community," maybe it's called?) with parks, swimming pools, schools, libraries, etc. all within walking distance. We went to a whole bunch of parks/playgrounds, which the boys loved. They also loved swimming at the pool. I wish we had more parks and playgrounds close to our house--they are really fun. Oh, also, there are bunnies everywhere! I loved it. One morning when I was running, I saw 13 bunnies!! (not all at once, unfortunately)



We stopped in St. George and visited some friends on our way home. These are pictures taken at the St. George LDS temple. I love the snapdragons!




Sebastian is such a happy boy! He really liked riding in this pack (borrowed from Allison's friend)

Another of our favorite places in CA was the LaBrea Tar Pits. Abey liked the mammoth skeletons especially. We also liked the exhibits that showed hundreds of wolf skulls--"dire wolves," they're called. I guess they lurked at the tarpits to catch other animals, but often fell in themselves. That was in the museum, but we really liked just walking around the actually tar pits, too. It sure smells tarry! I was surprised at that. Also at the number of places (not big pits, just little puddles) where tar was just bubbling up out of the ground! Even a few blocks away, where we parked, there was a place where tar was oozing from between sidewalk cracks. Aren't they afraid all the buildings will fall in and get swallowed up, like that poor baby mammoth and his mother?

Some highlights from our trip to California

We had the best time visiting my brother Philip and sister-in-law Allison in Irvine, CA! We loved staying with them, eating Allison's great meals, and visiting all the fun things to see nearby.

We went to Newport Beach and Laguna Beach--it's a beautiful drive from Philip and Allison's house along Pacific Highway. Sebastian loved watching and listening to the waves--he was fascinated by the ocean. Abraham was a bit nervous at first, but once he got involved in helping Philip and Sam build a sand volcano (with surrounding moat), he had a lot of fun. Abe and Seb both had shovels to dig with, and we left Abe's in the moat while we walked along the beach. When we came back, it had been carried away! We looked around, but couldn't find it--but then just as we were about to leave, Philip suddenly went leaping off down the beach, and when we looked after him, there was the green shovel in the waves! He caught it and we were happily reunited.


Abe can't resist leading the music by this music-stand-like sign




These are pictures of the LA Science Museum and surrounding Rose Gardens. It's right by USC, and there are several other museums nearby, too. We spent most of the day at the science center, with a break for a picnic in the rose gardens. Sebby was happy to be carried in a pack instead of a stroller, and Abe loved all the interactive exhibits. We especially liked the musical instrument and wave-related exhibits, like this long talking tube, and other tubes you could blow water rings and make whirlpools with.





Because Sam works for Disney, we get into Disneyland free, so it was great--we went there twice without feeling either time that we had to stay too long or "get our money's worth." I didn't realize they would have so many fun things for Abey to do. He loved all the little-kid rides, especially when he got to ride with Philip or Allison. My favorite ride was "Soaring over California" (which was a bit scary for Abe, though he talks about it quite fondly now). Abey liked the Small World ride best. Sebby just loved watching all the people and taking everything in. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the fireworks, or "Turtle talk with Crush" (a show that I'm told is a must-see), but maybe we can go back again sometime for those. :)

5 years--yay!

Happy Fifth Anniversary to us! I'm so happy to be married and have the two best little boys in the world! These have been the best five years of my life.

Whee!

Sebastian really, really wants to walk. He wants to do everything Abraham can do. I don't know if he'll actually end up walking any sooner than Abe did (Abe walked at about 12-13 months), but Seb thinks he already can walk. He'll stand up and then let go of whatever he's holding, and set off purposefully toward some destination on his tiny rubber legs, but then he'll wobble and fall right over. Doesn't seem to deter him, though.

Sebastian signs "more"

Sebby did his first sign this week. One day at lunchtime he was crawling towards me, crying, and he kept sitting up and putting his hands together. At first I thought he was clapping, but then I realized he was saying "more." (I guess he's still working on discriminating between "more" and "eat.") Then, when I got his food out, he signed "more" every time I paused in my spooning. He seemed so happy and pleased with himself--he'd look at the food, then at me, then sign "more"--and break into a huge grin when it worked and I actually gave him more. It must be so empowering to suddenly be able to communicate like that. And it's a lot less noisy than his alternate method (yelling), too.

Easter Boys

Here are some side-by-side pictures of Sebby on Easter, and Abey (wearing the same suit) on Easter 3 years ago. Seb is 8 months old, and Abe was 6 months old at the time. Aren't they both cute? I don't know how we got lucky enough to have TWO babies that cute.

Easter

We had a very nice Easter with our two bunny boys. Abraham enjoyed finding and hiding eggs at Grandma and Grandpa Nelson's house this year, and Sebby celebrated by trying his first fruit. (Pears.) He loved them.

Abraham and Sebastian loved having Karl, Philip, and Allison come to visit. We wish we could see them more often!

Here is a picture of Abraham and Uncle Karl, both wearing their purple ties. (Abey's is less purple than Karl's, but it's the best we could find.) After Karl went home, Abe said, "It's fun to have Karl here, but I guess his own kids need him too."

In memoriam

Leslie Norris died yesterday, April 6th, 2006.

In honor of a good friend, a superb teacher, and a remarkable poet, here is an excerpt from his poem "Stones Trees Water."

. . .
There are no simple seasons, sufficient
to themselves. Summer leaves,
swinging in glossy plenty from the boughs,
remind us of the January trees,
black in the cold rain. We tread
the old leaves underfoot,
leaves six months dead. We walk
among the brief generations of leaves
towards winter.

. . .
Revealed by winter, small trees
stand like rueful old men,
their bare shanks thin, their
old veins hardening. Useless
to promise as we walk among them
a renewal of youth, a returned
flaunting of green,
when April comes.
They are turned now
from the wind
that shaped their growing
and it is enough
that they endure
what each day's weather
brings to them.
And who is so rash
as to promise us
another April?

Conference Sunday

After conference, we had a nice time enjoying the beautiful weather and playing outside at Grandma and Grandpa Nelson's house.

Sebby can sit

Sebboo learned to push himself up to a sitting position last week. He also got his second tooth!