Seb | Not Neverland, and that's just fine

After KiGa, Seb can usually be found unwinding with a good book.

Seb is growing cuter and cuter every day. It turns out that having a “kid” as opposed to a forever-baby like our mama hearts always want, is way cool. I am not going to say that there aren’t those moments when I want so badly to have him back as that tiny little 6 lb. newborn, or get those chubby cheeks and that toddling stage again, just for a few minutes, but reality is that we grow and change and learn. And that’s a really good thing. It makes my heart swell watching Sebastian figure out this wonderful, exciting, and even hurtful world we live in.

Seb’s vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds, and his poor little head must be so tired! He’s not only learning English vocabulary, but German vocabulary, and soaking it all up like a dry sponge. At home and away he is constantly hearing words and phrases in German, and his comprehension of this language is astounding after such a short period of time.

When Sebastian wants Bruno to stop doing something, he can be heard saying, “Ohhhh nein!” instead of “Oh no.” He sometimes gets a little distressed for a moment and says, “But I don’t know how to say, ‘I’m sorry’ in German!” And other times, for no apparent reason, he pops his curious little head up from what he’s doing and says, “How do you say car in German?”. He knows several German songs, can count to 10 (and does so frequently), and has a few catchphrases that he thinks are funny like, “Was ist das?!” (what is that?!), and “Du bist schnell!” (you are fast!). He knows greetings and goodbyes, and when I take him to KiGa in the morning, he cheerily greets every person he sees, near and far, with a “Guten Morgen!”

And lest we forget about Bruno, he says “Tschuss” instead of “Bye,” and is newly obsessed with Bob der Baumeister (Bob the Builder) and with an excited squeal says, “BAHHB... BAHHB.” Oh my little multicultural babes.

Now where was I? That was quite a bunny trail. I was talking about how awesome it is to have a little kid. Seb has grown so thoughtful and grown up. I really have to be quite careful because it’s so easy to put too much responsibility on him because he seems so much older than three and a half. Just tonight, I was putting some clean dishes away, and as I tried to finagle a pan up onto a high shelf, one of the metal lids fell with a bang to the floor. I finished placing the pan where I needed it to go, but before I was done, Sebastian came running over, picked up the lid and said, “Here you go, Mommy!”. Seb notices everything. This means that he asks approximately 1,000,000,000,000 questions everyday, and is easily distressed (both of which can be hard to deal with), but this also means that he takes care of us. When Bruno is getting his diaper changed—not his favorite activity—Seb frequently trots along behind and says, “I’m going to make Bruno happy!”, and is often seen running around trying to find a good toy for Bruno to play with.

I love this sweet little kid of ours, and tell him every day that he is my sunshine. He is learning to be proud of what he does, developing his own sense of style (however much I don’t like suspenders and sweatpants as an outfit!), and even takes time to compliment me when something in our home looks nice with a, “Oh that’s great!” or “Thanks for doing that, mom!”. He likes to be in on the conversation and says, “Mom, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” when Cody and I are talking at the table. 

He thinks marshmallows are a “cozy” food.

He is curious and thoughtful, sensitive, and resilient. I couldn’t be happier to have this little man in our lives, and am so acutely aware of how privileged I am to be his mama that it hurts just a little bit.

And just because I love this picture... Seb watching Micky Maus Wunderhaus (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse). Now suspenders and JEANS is a look I can support 100%. Also, I've given up on matching socks.