Cuter Seb Moments

Like any four year old, Sebastian has an incredible and sweet imagination and then some. Here are two adorable things recently demonstrated by Sebastian:

Shaving

For well over a year Seb likes to join me in the shower many mornings. Up until a month ago this primarily involved playing with a bucket (that often substituted for a boat, car, train or bus) and Nemo, Dory, Marlin and Crush. At Seb’s November birthday party, though, he received a play shaving kit. The kit consists of shaving foam (foamy blue soap), plastic play razor, shaving brush and small mirror.

The kit really changed the dynamic of our showers. Now he loves to shave. The other day when we had to run out somewhere in a hurry, there was no time for a shower and instead we shaved at the sink. Tess captured the moment in this pic!

Computers

As you can imagine, Sebastian is becoming inceasingly interested in computers. He regularly sees Tess at the computer doing her work – writing articles etc. If he asks what she I’d doing, she’ll say, "I am doing some work." Same with me… sometimes I’ll be working on my laptop or our home computer. Seb will arrive from the playground, for example, and will ask, "Are you doing your work, Daddy?"

So now, Sebastian is doing work, too. If we are going out or asking Seb to do something, occasionally he will answer with, "I can’t right now, I am busy doing work." Usually he says this very innocently with no attitude. I’ll ask, "How long will you be?" and he’ll normally explain that he’ll be done in "just a few minutes." I am okay with this, taking it as a chance to teach patience and planning.

Patience is something a little lacking with Sebastian, especially when HE wants to use the computer but it is already in use. The other day he became increasingly anxious and finally I suggested we find his keyboard. (Long ago we gave him an old keyboard to play with.) A short while later I handed Sebastian an old wireless keyboard and mouse. Off he went to do his work.

Sebastian quiet for the longest time. It was just before bedtime, triplets asleep, and I wondered if maybe he had nodded off himself somewhere. I got up from the computer to investigate. As I walked down the Sebastian came walking out of the playroom. I asked him, "Have you been doing your work?"

"Yes," he replied excitedly.

I walked into the playroom to find the keyboard sitting on the sofa and a chair in front of the keyboard. But the sweetest part, was who Sebastian was using as a computer: Baloo. Perched beyond the keyboard was Baloo… "Is this the computer screen?" I asked Sebastian.

"Yes," he replied excitedly. His imagination was so endearing it broke my heart.

Sebastian’s BD Party!

This afternoon we held Sebastian’s 4th Birthday Party in the playground. About 35 – 40 kids attended and twice as many adults. Good time was had by all… except tonight the kids will all have nightmares about Sebastian’s Birthday Cake. Yes, made from scratch by yours truly, with the idea inspired by Tess after Sebastian informed us he desired a dinosaur for his birthday cake. Enjoy the pics and here is the video of everyone singing Happy Birthday!

Busted by Baz!

For a long time now (well over a year) Sebastian, who will be four years old in ten days, has been nappy free at night. As long as we monitor fluid intake close to the bathroom, he can make it through the night without incident. We maybe have one accident per month. We also have the occasional morning where we ask Sebastian if he has to go to the bathroom prior to breakfast, to which he replies, "No, I already went in the middle of the night." This typically sparks debate between Tess & I about how and when that happened when the entire flat was in darkness. Maybe he dreamt it.

If Sebastian is VERY tired when he goes to bed, or has had a lot to drink late in the day, we might take him to the bathroom before Tess & I go to bed to avoid any middle of the night mishaps. (When this happens, Seb is always half asleep and we have to make sure he doesn’t topple off the toilet as he is weeing.)

To counter this, Seb often asks for water when we put him to bed. Usually we give him a small cup with a lid (i.e. sippy cup so it won’t spill in the middle of the night) with about an inch of water. Any more and we risk a middle of the night mishap. Okay, hopefully by now you have the context for this whole thing… now the story… kids have an amazing memory.

The other night as I was putting Sebastian to bed he asked for some water. I nonchalantly said, "okay, I’ll get you some later." Meanwhile, he brushed his teeth and went to bed. After praying, Sebastian claimed that he was "soooooo tired." I took that as a signal that he didn’t really need some water. We talked a little, exchanged hugs and kisses, and a short while later Sebastian was sawing logs.

Cut to next morning, when Sebastian often comes into Tess and my room to wake me up for breakfast… usually around 6:45 AM. I saw him come into the room and said in a quiet voice so as to not wake Tess, "good morning, Sebastian." He replied…

"You…" and I thought, "Okay, me, yes…"

"didn’t" and I thought, "Yes, I didn’t wake you up because normally you wake me up. So I am fine."

"bring" and I thought, "Bring him what, a toy from my business trip?" (I had just returned the day before… "what is he talking about?")

"me water…" and I thought, "AHHH… I am SO busted. I can’t believe the memory this kid has… I thought FOR SURE he would forget!"

Apparently not.

I apologised profusely, Sebastian sheepishly said, as he crawled into bed for a few minutes next to me, "that’s okay" and I made a mental note, "never break word with little kids regardless of how tired they are when you make the promise." Actually, never break word with anyone (but especially little kids.)

It’s Saturday night in Hong Kong and we just had a fantastic day with the team, including going to a fair in Hong Kong where everyone lasted until 3:30 PM (!) without naps with few if any complaints. Trips went to bed at 7:30 PM but we let Baz stay up a little later to watch a smidgeon of Buzz Lightyear. He is now in bed… with an inch of water in his little cup. Break my heart, what a great little guy.

The Fintry Lighthouse

As some of you might suspect, I love lighthouses. Harkens back to my sailing days. No, that’s not true… it’s the PYM in me. Point is, at Fintry on Lake Okanagan, where Tess’ family frequents every summer for the last 30+ years and my family visited last week, there is a lighthouse. Not a terribly large one but nonetheless protects water vessels from the perils of the shore. The structure has a lower platform that rises roughly two to three meters out of the water depending on the water level. From the lower platform to the top is another four meters. On many summers I have jumped off the top of the Fintry Lighthouse, plunging roughly six to seven meters down into the water. On even more occasions I have jumped from the lower platform – only three meters but still a thrill. For many, jumping from the lighthouse is a rite of passage that signifies a degree of bond with Fintry.

Sebastian jumped from the lower platform. Yes, it WAS amazing.

A group of us managed our way by land or sea to our green and white friend. After a while I started waltzing my way through the water to the lighthouse. Sebastian followed, quickly turning back due to the chilly water. I made my first jump from the lower platform and my brother-in-law, Keith, followed a few minutes later. Sebastian watched from the beach and as I started climbing he yelled out that he wanted to jump from the lighthouse. I didn’t really believe him. Not only would he have to climb the ladder he would also have to look down ten feet to the water. I was certain at some point he would turn back. I was already on the lower platform so Keith and my sister Carolyn helped Sebastian to the ladder. Keith helped Seb climb up and the little trooper made it up the ladder.

Holding Seb’s hand we walked around to the far side of the lighthouse where the water is deepest and safest for jumping. I could tell Seb was beginning to get nervous about the leap. I also knew that I could not hold him in my arms on the way down. Last summer we jumped into a pool together. The resulting force of water created by my jumping into the water – to which Seb in my arms was a full party to – scared Sebastian so much that he wouldn’t jump in a pool for almost six months. I carefully reminded Seb that being in my arms would scare him. The best thing for us to do was hold hands and jump off together. In his own little way he agreed.

We had a practice session where we counted to three and pretended to jump. Then the moment was upon us. Holding one of his hands, and the other hand against Seb’s back to insure he jumped properly and clear of the structure, we counted again… one… Two… THREE…! Over the edge we went and into the water we dropped. I quickly surfaced to see Sebastian spinning around towards me. As everyone screamed and shouted with excitement I exclaimed, “Sebastian, you did it, you jumped from the lighthouse!”

“Too cold, too cold!” he replied. We swam back to shore but I am sure he’ll be back for another jump in August.

Sebastian’s Self Portrait

One of the sweetest things happened on the computer the other day with Sebastian. After going to Church on Sunday, we fired up the web cam for Tess’ family in Yellowknife, Canada to view the Terrific Trio and Sebastian. One by one the triplets trickled by as Grandad Blake and Maureen the Gorgeous Gran, (aka MoZiLLa) said hello and flashed smiles to their Hong Kong grandkids.

Sebastian took great interest in this production, pushing in wherever and whenever he could. We put the phone on speaker phone behind the web cam, after which MoZilla and Sebastian were able to have a private chat. Soon it was time to say good-bye and we turned off the web cam.

Later Sebastian asked me if he could watch himself on the computer. I thought to myself, “Hmmm, how long will this last? Long enough for a nap?” Normally I would be protective of the computer… a quick flip of the wrong button and “shazam” something gets deleted. But then again I thought, “why not” and quickly placed Sebastian in front of the web cam program that allowed him to make all sorts of faces at himself. He loved it. After he lost interest we fed the babies and went swimming.

Meanwhile, Sunday evening Tess and I had dinner at some friends in our building. Prior to leaving I checked e-mail on the computer. As I sat down I saw fifteen open windows cascading all over the screen. “Grrrr…” I thought, “NOW what’s wrong with this computer?” I clicked one of the screens and to my affectionate surprise was greeted by a picture of Sebastian. Somehow Sebastian, who knows nothing about how to operate a computer except that it has something to do with clicking the mouse, had found the “still shot” control on the web cam. The little wizard took fifteen pics of himself gazing at the screen and in several cases directly into the web cam. The grainy nature of the pictures gave the self portraits a stirring, timeless perspective. I quickly saved the little treasures and have posted the top two for your viewing pleasure.