We made the trek to the spider pavillion at the Natural History Museum yesterday and I must say it was impressive. The crowds were much lighter than at the “Pavillion of Wings” exhibit, due both to a USC game at the stadium next door (I imagine, at least, that parking is at a premium around Exposition Park during USC football) and to the inherent “ewwww” factor normally associated with spiders. An interesting factoid, though, is that there are about 40,000 species of spiders in the world and only 28 are considered “potentially dangerous” to humans. Still, I wouldn’t want this crawling on me:
Sebastian began drawing pictures of rockets yesterday evening, inspired by Wallace & Gromit in “A Grand Day Out”. He then moved on to jet planes an filled page after page. Note the flags on some of his jets, as well as the details of the person guiding the plane on the runway. We thought we’d share his art with the family, so enjoy!
Sebastian started school (officially) this week. The kindergarten & first grade classes only went for half days to ease into the routine and they start the full days on Monday. AM & I went together to drop him off on Tuesday (the first day, what with Labor Day and all) and he looked absolutely dapper in his formal uniform – white shirt, black tie, navy vest with the school crest, blue cords, black shoes – and didn’t shed a tear. I was a little torn about that, but suppose that I’d rather he be excited than scared, so good for him.
Last night was the “Back to School” night at the school: a time for parents to be introduced to the faculty & students and to tour the school. After an uncomfortable (though informative) hour in the non-air-conditioned auditorium we went to the 2nd floor to see the new computer lab and then back down to Sebastian’s classroom to spend time with his teacher. All in all the night reinforced our decision to send Sebastian there – the school is clean & well-maintained, the faculty & staff friendly and caring, the parents involved. Thank goodness.
There are some new photos up of the first day as well as from our trip to the Peteresen Automotive Museum last weekend. Enjoy and take care…
Wow. Five years have flown by and our little baby boy ain’t so little any more!
Sebastian had a great birthday, waking up at 6:30AM and running into the living room to see his gifts. We rolled our lazy butts out of bed and watched as he tore them open. He seemed to like the scooter, but I feel bad that the monorail toy we ordered won’t arrive until this Wednesday — the picture I printed to show him it was on the way was sadly pixelated and I don’t know that he grasped completely the intent. Oh well, he’ll be happy come Wednesday. I had to go to work shortly after but he & AM went to Nick’s Cafe for a huge breakfast (he had a pancake sandwich: 3 pancakes, 2 eggs, 2 bacon, and a piece of AM’s toast!) then headed to Target to spend Ma & Pa’s gift card. He spent HOURS carefully examining all of the toy offerings, finally settling on a toy vacuum cleaner for $15 — his eyes lit up and he was ready to head straight home & clean… but I showed up and instead we had an early birthday dinner at Islands first. Once we got home we opened the package and, much like our recent experience with our real vacuum, the damn thing was broken. So yesterday we spent ANOTHER day at Target as Sebastian went too and fro trying to see if he had changed his mind on his choice. He didn’t. We exchanged it, went to Whole Foods for a quick bite & some groceries & headed for home. And vacuumed. Every room. And this morning, too. All in all it’s been a good birthday. Plus the carpet is clean.
Thanks to all for the gifts & cards & such! And Happy Birthday (again) Sebastian! We love you!
I don’t think I had much of a grasp of the concept of direction at the age of four (hell, I still have to think pretty hard when someone asks me whether to turn right or left), but Sebastian came up with a “game” last night as we waited for the bus at Union Station. He asked AM which way was north, noted it on a piece of paper and proceeded to ask about two more, concluding at that point that the only remaining directional must be west. He then showed us this:
We were both impressed. What a brilliant boy we have!
We took Sebastian for his first ever haircut today, through screaming & tears & trepidation. Rather than seeking out an overpriced joint that caters to kids or settle for the mediocrity that tends to be Fantastic Sams & the like we settled instead upon Sweeney Todd’s Barber Shop on Hollywood Blvd. It’s a three-chair shop that serves as a step back in time. Old copies of Playboy, Modern Drunkard and Atomic Ranch filled the magazine rack, the water cooler was an actual glass 5-gallon number and the barbers themselves were straight out of the fifties, dressed in crisp white with impeccable hair (one with a picture-perfect pencil mustache) who knew all about the shops that once dominated downtown Los Angeles, alongside tattoo parlors that disappeared after the sixties. They were extremely patient with Sebastian’s reluctance to sit in the chair and we finally decided that it’d work well if he sat on my lap in the chair. Craig, a middle-aged man with a faded forearm tattoo I couldn’t quite make out and thick-rimmed black spectacles, told us the story of his first plane ride when he was three & a half flying out of Ontario airport — he didn’t want to go, broke away from his dad and ran around and around the airplane, forcing the pilot to chase & catch him. Once they wrangled him back onto the plane he got to ride in the cockpit after that, and even got a pair of wings. Sebastian didn’t react much to the story and kept his eyes shut tight for much of the time, but the tears stopped and he handled it like a trooper. He says he doesn’t like his haircut, and AM is a little sad to see his long locks go, but I think he looks quite sharp and the short back & sides will be much better for the summer. I’ll take him back alone next time — AM felt a little out of place in such a boy’s club (though they made us all feel welcome). It is another way I can live vicariously through my son… I mean, it’d be a little weird for a bald guy to hang out at a barber shop, right? Anyway, there are some pictures up now of his trip to the barber and from the past few weeks. Enjoy as always!
Also, there are some new photos up from the past couple of weeks, including some of our rearranged living room and a trip to Central Park (aka Del Mar) in Pasadena. We meant to take some pics while at Galco’s last Sunday but completely forgot as we were all swept away by the selection of soda. Sebastian loved looking around though (thankfully) he’s still not much of a soda fan.
I think we’re heading to Santa Monica today, or somewhere closer to the ocean as we’re facing possible triple digit temperatures today in downtown & Pasadena. Ugh. I had to layer up while riding to work on Monday, and today I’d be more comfortable going outside naked. This weather just ain’t right! Enjoy the pictures & videos and we’ll hopefully have some more soon!
Let’s see… It’s been a few weeks since the last post but I don’t know that there is that much catching up to do. There are some new photos up, including the last from our wonderful (though short) visit with Aunt Jean & Daniel. I can’t believe it’s been over 2 weeks since they were here! Easter was nice & Sebastian enjoyed hunting for the (plastic) eggs left by the Easter bunny, and we made an effort to go to a park on the cooler side of town (Santa Monica) to no avail (it was CLOSED for Easter). Oh well… we hopped on the bus and went to a non-fenced in park in Highland Park instead, so it worked out okay, despite the high temps.
Now we’re back to crisp spring weather and AM & Sebastian have spent some time at some other parks – the Cornfield Park & the Monster Park. Unfortunately the wildflowers at the Cornfield Park will be gone next year – apparently an open field for people to enjoy the beauty of nature is less important than, oh, I don’t know, having a place to host fireworks events. Grrrrrr…
Our trip to Joshua Tree was absolutely wonderful! It’s been 8 years since we’ve gone there and I didn’t realize how much I missed being out in the desert… The weather was perfect – 75 degrees and sunny, though there was a bit of a haze for much of the drive (we couldn’t even see the mountains!). Sebastian was a trooper and enjoyed climbing on the rocks, and I think everyone enjoyed the landscape and views. Enjoy the photos… we’ll post more soon!
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