Weather

The weather was not perfect, but none-the-less, beautiful.

The Family

We had lots of good family time hanging around at home and playing with the kids. Sebastian enjoyed all the activity and attention.

Katie's Light

We stayed in a reproduction of a light house named Katie's Light. It was very charming. Julien loved the spiral staircase.

Matching Stripes

Aren't they cute?

Christmas Walk on the Beach

This was the first time Sebastian touched the sand.

Florida Christmas

Christmas morning we were all a bit groggy. There was a thunderstorm Christmas Eve night, and it was over cast and a bit dark and dreary. But still, there was a certain beauty to it. It also made it feel nice and cosy in the house. Later in the afternoon it cleared up a bit, and we had a chance to walk along the beach.

Sebastian and Benjamin enjoyed thier first Christmas. Julien, of course, enjoyed it as well. There were lots of photos as presents- classic new baby presents.

Christmas Tree

Our Christmas tree entailed a bit of an adventure. Jessica and I went out to buy a tree, but the one lot that still had trees on Christmas Eve wasn't open. Or at least the guy wasn't on the lot. After a lot of waiting around and long discussions about what to do, we left him money under his windshield wiper, cut off the tie of the tree, and tied it to the top of her car. When we got home we had to improvise a tree stand with a bucket of sand. Julien and I collected shells with holes in them and we used them for decorations.

It ended up being a perfect tree.

Benjamin and Sebastian

Sebastian did everythig he could to suck on Benjamin. He licked his head, chewed on his hand and lunged at him several times. Benjamin wasn't so sure about Sebastian's behavior, but found it interesting.

Amelia Island

We had Christmas in Florida at Amelia Island this year. It was really wonderful: Mild weather, beach, seashells, and family. Bill was healing well from surgery and we were happy to see Sebastian and Benjamin together again

And yes, this isn't Sebastian in my arms- it's Benjamin.

Back to Work

January 1st: Sebastian squirmed backwards six feet and then knocked over a bin of Julien's knights
January 2nd: My first day back at work. Sebastian wouldn't take a bottle, so he visited several times.
January 3rd: First Nanny in our home, Nesrin, a linguistics graduate student from Turkey. Sebastian ate rice cereal in the morning and banana baby food in the afternoon. This was his first real solid food. I came home at lunch to nurse, and will for the foreseeable future.

Happy New Year!!!

Fake Christmas

We had a fake Christmas a couple days before we went out of town to Florida. We opened gifts from out of town relatives. Julien received almost everything he could wish for: knights, books, barbarians, a polar express, etc. He was very happy. Sebastian, surprisingly, was also very excited by the opening of presents.

Santa's Voice

The other day we were listening to Christmas music when Bing Crosby's white Christmas came on.
J: Mommy this sounds like Santa...is this Santa?
A: I don't know, do you think it's Santa?
J: Everybody has a different voice, and this voice sounds like Santa, so it must be Santa!"

Crescent Man

The other day when i picked up Julien he had a yellow construction paper mask with blue crescents on it on many triangles taped up and down his legs.
"Who are you" I asked.
"Crescent Man, the Turkish super hero!"

Rousing the Kids

It was not easy rousing the kids for the early morning trip to the airport to return home. Julien, as usual, traveled well, but Sebastian fussed most of the way. It didn't help that we had turbulence for the entire flight and couldn't walk around!

Hot Tub

We spent a day in Sacramento visiting Grandmars and Grandad great as well as Uncle Allen, Aunt Kathy, cousin Laurel and the posse of cousins. It was nice weather for a dip in the hot tub.

Relaxing

Our visit with Grandmum and Grandad was very relaxing. Julien listened to his Grandmum read about the castles of Loire Valley in France and built intricate set ups. Sebastian enjoyed playing with his feet and watching his brother.