Sebastian's Rampage & Sebastian Reads the News

Sebastian, Get a Haircut aka Sebastian Gets a Haircut aka De-mulleting

dump trucks and barbie dolls

All day long a dump truck drives back and forth in front of the house. Each time Sebastian perks to the rumble as it barrels down the road and has a fleeting sight of it. It makes me wonder if he was a girl if he would show any interest. Was it me who subconsciously pointed the truck out to him the first couple times it went by or did I notice his intrigue and play into it? When I was a nanny for a two year old years ago we used to sit on the porch and watch the construction site across the street all damn day. All the dudes even knew the kid's name... 
I remember a parent telling me once about how they brought their baby into a kindergarten class and all the little girls flocked to it and none of the boys gave a second glance. This guy insisted it was an ingrained trait, not cultural. But I've been taking Sebastian to kid areas (like on the ferry) and to a mama-baby/pregnant mamas/mama-tots drop-in every Monday since we arrived and he's found his way into many an adventure with four year old boys and they undeniably think he's cute.
A friend of mine gypsied it in Mexico once with a woman who had a baby. They decided the kid shouldn't be constrained by gender so gave it an ambiguous name (I think it was Lynx) and called it "tree" instead of "he" or "she." Kind of makes me laugh. Were they crazy or were they onto something? I'd love to meet that kid.
So I obviously wouldn't raise Sebastain and future kids in with such extremist intentions because it's not my style, but I as he gets older and his personality is revealed more and the way the world interacts with him and he interacts with the world really start to make lasting impressions and shape his personality, it's something that I'm aware of.
I don't think there's anything that oppressive about gender identity but maybe that's because I've never had a problem with my gender and my supposed role in the world. Most times I've been confronted with people who expect me to be a certain way because I'm a woman, or take certain privileges because their guys (or women for that matter) I've been more amused than enraged. I usually take as a sign of their need for growth more than reality. 
Well, these random trains of thought probably aren't going to sort themselves out any time soon. Sebastian is sitting beside me chucking toys off the side of his highchair and as I hear the rumble of the dump truck again I point it out to him; he's in awe. He's into it, that's all that matters. Maybe when he's old he'll love Barbie and it will all even out.

unraveling

I've been meaning to knit Sebastian a sweater for a long, long time and I finally did it. I followed the Baby Sophisticate pattern on ravelry. Despite the warnings that this pattern ran a tad too small, and the fact that this kid is so very round, I went for it. The result? A too-small sweater on my oh so round baby. Oh well! He's been wearing it around (collar and bottonless, ie unfinished) but as soon as it starts looking ridiculously small or until I find a new pattern, get the motivation, or figure out the mathematics to redo it in a bigger size, I'm just going to unravel it. I have become an avid unraveler in the knitting realm. The way I see it is, why would I want to be stuck with something ugly, awkwardly sentimental, a reminder of a failed project just because it's homemade? I'd rather recycle the material, get some extra practice and end up with a project I actually feel good about. In the same vein, I tend to unravel works-in-progress if I discover I've made a mistake. I've been known to undo and reknit almost an entire sweater, and rework a pair of mittens, oh, about four times before I'm satisfied. It's not a matter of perfection, it's a matter of practicality. If I want a creative and folksy project I draw instead. Drawings take up less space, and I don't believe in erasers.

little pequeno

Sebastian is almost eight months old! Last night while we were all sitting around at the dinner table he started going "umum mum mum mum mum" and we laughed, trying to figure out if we should count this as his first word. It was undecided until this morning when he woke up, looked at Alex and I and exclaimed "pa pa pa pa pa mum mum mum pa pa pa mum mum" then proceeded to throw "dad" in there later in the day. Before yesterday I hadn't heard him make either of these sounds. It kind of blew our minds. Further impressing us, he's starting to "wave" (actually he just holds his hand up high in the air when we wave at him, but he gets it).
Okay, I'll stop being a boring braggy parent and acknowledge that these are utterly mundane and obvious baby things to do. But I'm still fully impressed and proud.

Besides these things, he's really a ham. I don't think he's happier than when he's in a cafe or the grocery store and he can grin at all the random people. He's a charmer, for sure. Naturally he's also become a good old fashioned trouble maker. He's crawling and standing up, which means no piece of paper, book, plant, electrical cord, cup of coffee etc is safe if remotely in reach. If we leave a room, he follows us. Sometimes he stands at the top of the stairs holding onto the baby gate waiting for whoever is missing to come home.