Sebastian's diary

--------- 8 MONTHS ---------

--------- 6 & 7 MONTHS ---------

The Aussie part of the family

I was very exited since finally I got to meet my ‘Aussie’ aunt Madelon and uncle Roel who are living at the other side of the earth. Needless to say that I took the opportunity to steel some cuddles.

And it is logical that for their short visit we addapted to the Australian way of living by having a real Aussie BBQ! All their friends and family were there, it was good fun!

Gift from Ben, Franny, Elke and Jesse

I got a very traditional 'Fries' gift from Ben, Franny, Elke and Jesse: a silver rattle. I am honoured and pleased!

New things I have learned

Eating my first solid food: carrot with potota. It was a bit messy but I loved it!

Sending emails.
It is truly amazing, with this little machine in front of me I can communicate to the whole world, one can not start soon enough!

Sucking my thumb...

... sitting hands free! (although it is just for one second) ...

... and reading a book with my friend the beer (from Stephan the Swiss guy).

After all those new learned things I really love to sleep with my cuddle 'Nijntje'.

--------- 5 MONTHS ----------

From Queensway to Koninginnegracht
Of course I do not settle for anything less than royal: in London we lived on Queensway, now we live at the Koninginnegracht (Queens Channel) in Den Haag. And guess what; our new house that is being built is a Catharina-Amalia, named after the oldest daughter of our Dutch heir apparent Willem Alexander and his wife Maxima. One would almost think my parents are royalists…

As you can see, the move was very funny for me with all these boxes with interesting things in it... ... and of course I now have my own room.

Moving day
After everything was packed I said goodbye to our porter Peter.

In the tube I had a last glimpse of the tube map...

... and stealing a glimse from the nabour at the free morning paper 'metro'. Before I knew it we flew back to the Netherlands.

Farewell London! (5 months)
It's time to leave. I had a great time living in London, but I'm also looking forward to seeing my family again and making new friends, so I will leave with mixed feelings.

Before I went I wanted to say goodbye to my girlfriend Charlotte. After a farewell play we took a stroll in the park with mum Jorien.

Bye Bye everyone. It was nice to have met you!

--------- 4 MONTHS ---------

San Sebastian

In the beginning of this year my parents took me to the place I was named after: San Sebastian!

It was the first time to meet my Spanish Family, please allow me to introduce them.
This is Osaba (Uncle) Jon.

Every evening before going to bed I took my bath with Jon. We had great fun... especially osaba Jon!

In the morning when Jon was trying to sleep-in, I made sure he would wake up with a smile!

This is my favourite ant: Izeba (Ant) Maritxu.

This is Abuela (granny) Carmen

And this is Abuelo (grandpa) Edu

These are my Abuelos (grandparents) Rafael and Pepi

Look at the hands of Rafael… I feel realy secure.

Of course we wandered around in beautiful San Sebastian. This picture is on the Concha: strange thing on Jon’s head though (Jon the moose?)

This is the port of San Sebastian...

... and here in the back you can see the famous Concha of San Sebastian

In Spain, and particularly in the Bask Country, life revolves around food. Daddy was really exited since for the first time in all these years that he visited San Sebastian and Astigarraga in particular, he finally managed to be there at the right time: the Cider Season! So Osaba Jon showed how to ‘catch’ the cider in a traditional Cider House and as you can see, he is an expert!

The typical meal one takes in a cider house is tortilla de bacalao (cot pie) and chuleta a la plancha (cutlet from the beef) with some cheese to finish. Have a look at these chuleta’s being prepared on a traditional charcoal fire: you will not find them anywhere else any better!

But, this was not the only gastronomic event of the holiday. We had many lunches and diners. We did not go to this restaurant but have a look at the name of this restaurant…

... maybe next time.
This is a typical Spanish bar… one can not start soon enough to be educated! Lunch with friends!
Osaba Jon and my daddy prepared a traditional English Roast for the whole family in the sociedad of grandpa Rafael...
... lamb, carrots and peas.

And what better than to relax at the end of the nice lunch with Osaba Jon enjoying a coffee and a copa

Wow, what a great time we've spend!

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Long time no see...
Hello everybody, I just want to let you all know that I am still alive! I moved with my parents to Den Haag in the Netherlands. We finally got internet again, so my father can update my blog (zucht!). As you can all see, we are enjoying the environment!

And today was a special day, it was my mother first 'Mothers Day'! And guess who forgot... indeed, my father :-)

Oh by the way, tomorrow I will be 7 months; yeah!

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Exploring England
Setting out on our way to Cornwell and Devon my parents were not used to the size of this country and subsequently the distances. Therefore we ‘stranded’ in Wells. We did not know if it was a nice place and just picked a hotel. We learned that the hotel was built in the 14th century. It was very nice and had a lovely old feel to it.

Little did we know that the town in Somerset was famous. We read in our guide about the Cathedral which they started to build in the 10th century and got its cathedral status in the mid 13th century. And look at the view we had from our hotel… isn’t that great?

So… this is the famous cathedral.

Next day we went to Fowey (pronounced as Foy), at the coast of Cornwall. Here we stayed a couple of nights enjoying the beautiful environment. The pictures speak for themselves.

On our way back to London, we had a stopover in Salisbury and guess what…, Salisbury is also famous for its cathedral. It is one of the finest medieval cathedrals in Britain. So we needed to have a look at it of course.

And after satisfying our cultural hunger we needed to satisfy our physical hunger before we went home.

Visitors in my bath

I really love to have a bath these days!

But this time I got visitors. Who are these beautiful coloured creatures that are sharing the bath with me?

Ah, they are the dino family presented by the Souche family to keep me company whilst bathing.

Thank you very much Family Souche for making my bath time even more fun!

--------- 3 MONTHS ---------

Look, on my belly!
I used to not like it when I was put on my belly. But now I am enjoying it a lot, especially when I am naked!

Me and my mummy!

Out and about: this is how we do it.

I am not sure what she is doing with my hands but what ever it is, I do not like it!

New bed
My cot was getting too small, or I am getting too big. So a new bed was ordered and daddy needed to draw on all his eluded technical skills to put it together…

But the result is great; my new bed is soooo big.

And all excitement gets me drowsy.

So time to go to sleep!

Annemieke and Rob
Annemieke and Rob visited me in London some weeks ago! Who knows with all these babies in their circle of friends it might be contagious… At least they can have all the practise they want.

Doesn’t it look natural already ;-)

My second flight: going home to London
Getting ready for the flight back to London; bye bye granddaddy and grandmamma!

Aunt Franny with my nice Elke and nephew Jesse
It was great to meet Elke and Jesse. I have agreed with Elke that she will baby-sit and spoil me! And Jesse is going to teach me how to play football.

It was funny because when I look at the finger of Jesse, I see my own finger, only a little bit bigger; is this the result of the Smeding-genes?

And this is my aunt Franny. It was great meeting her! She has made me a beautiful sweater.

My first flight
Flying is easy; actually it is a little bit boring… that is why I just slept all the way through!

Here comes trouble
Look at us sitting neatly next to each other.... for now... but I am sure we will not be so well-behaved in the future :-)

Efficient parenting

Having twins is a different story all together… This is my aunt Monique with Sofie and Joris.

Quality time with Mama

Happy New Year!!

A good start of the New Year: ´beschuit met muisjes´

(01-01-2006, 11 weeks)
On New Years Day, Bert & Nickie, Johan, Eelco & Judith and their two lovely boys Mark & Luuk paid me a visit. Of course we had ´beschuit met muisjes´ since it is the typical Dutch tradition.

Judith shows Luuk what a baby looks like, since soon he will have a little baby brother or sister…

Daddy Eelco is practising his baby-holding positions; I was certainly impressed by this one.

And Eelco showed Mark how to hold and kiss a baby. All good practise! Hopefully soon Mark and Luuk can kiss their own baby brother or sister.

Jan, Anna, Nina & Laura
Look at this picture; 2 great guys, both of them a kind of superman…

Having fun with Anna.

Nina and Laura

Grandparents
It is great to spend time with your grandparents; you will get all the attention you wish for!

And on top af that, my parents are also spoiling me with attention! Isn't it great to be a baby?

Christmas
The first Christmas in my life, with the family of my mother. My aunt Madelon & uncle Roel had asked father Christmas to bring us some presents from Australia. As you can see my nephew Tim was very keen to have a look at what kind of presents the Christmas Sock contained.

It was also the first time I met my nice Sophie and nephew Joris. Aren’t they cute? I am sure our parents can not imagine the kinds of mischief we will do in the future :-)

It was a nice Christmas meal prepared by my uncle Erik, which we all enjoyed…

It was a very exiting day so afterwards I needed a good sleep and where better than in the crib in which my mothers slept when she was a baby!

My trip to the Netherlands with my new passport (10 weeks)

On the 24th of December 2005 I travelled in the Eurostar to the Netherlands. The trip was easy peasy, and when we were in the tunnel under the Channel I was fast asleep!

And when I was not asleep, there were a lot of new things to look at.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!!
Tomorrow I am going to my home country for the first time (making use of my brand new passport!) to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. I would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a healthy, happy New Year!
Love, Sebastian (or Xaxtian for my Bask Family)

8 week check-up
I had my eight week check-up last week. I am not sure if you can see it but the scale displayed 5.12 this means I have passed the 5 kg!

After that the doctor did a physical examination. He thought I was well advanced and that I am very alert. When my parents told him that I was 2 weeks overdue, he smilingly said I was probably cheating…

After all the excitement my parents took me out for a nice cup of coffee.

My midwife Pauline

Please allow me to introduce the most important person - next to my mother - who helped me get into this world: Pauline Cooke. Doing a home birth is not a common thing to do in England, especially when it concerns the first baby. But Pauline is a great believer in natural home births. Pauline has helped my mother tremendously in the process leading up to the birth, the birth it self and after. I am very grateful for all she has done for us!!!

Visit from Nimet

Yes indeed, I try to charm Nimet and I think I was successful!

Izeba Idoia

Last weekend my izeba (aunt in Bask) Idoia came to visit me! She also brought me a present from izeba Maritxu and osaba (uncle) Jon: a cd with Bask lullabies! Now I will learn my first Baskish when I go to sleep!

Visit from my Dutch girlfriend Charlotte and her mother Jorien

Last week Charlotte - my Dutch girlfriend - came to visit me with her mother Jorien. We both share the experience of being born in London.

Look how happy we both were!

Does she fancy me?

Autumn in our ‘back garden’

We went for a stroll in Hyde Park our ‘back garden’. My parents enjoyed the scenery; I was just enjoying my cosy ‘Ferrari’ pram!

My mother's famous funny walk!

Visiting my mother's colleagues at Focus

Look at all the attention I got from my mother's colleagues! Some of them experienced mothers (indeed, something in the water…) and the others will be great mothers in the future for sure!

Passport continued
After the futile attempts of my father to get a good passport photo of me (see below), my mother was more successful. As you can see, we make a good team!

This good collaboration resulted in a beautiful picture of myself that will now be in my first passport!

So mom and dad took me in my first cap-drive to the Royal Dutch Embassy

So now I can travel to my homeland (although strictly speaking entering the Royal Dutch Embassy already placed me on Dutch soil...)

Sweet dreams (1 month)

So what am I dreaming of?

My first bottle!

I had my first bottle (with mum’s milk of course!). To make sure I would not get confused, our Doula Carolyn gave it to me. So now mum needs to create a huge stock of milk….

Great-aunt Victorine and great-uncle Peter

This week my great-aunt Victorine and great-uncle Peter came to visit me (and to do some Christmas shopping of course ;-) ). It was great to see them. They gave me a nice present from Florida. They also brought a gift from Christa and Gert (also great aunt and uncle): "thanks a lot Christa and Gert!"

Passport photo

In order to travel outside this island I need a passport. And for a passport you need a passport photo. Passport photos for passports have specific requirements: both ears need to be in the picture, light background, should show the whole face and it would be great if it shows a smile... Well, the smile thing I can do but the rest is up to my parent’s photograph skills... and these were my father's attempts. So in the series of passport photo’s attempts here are 4 of them that are nice but not right. To be continued... hopefully the photograph skills of my mother are better, after all I can not keep on smiling all the time.

... and oh yes, and no hands of course...

With love from Russia

I had a visit from Moscow, Alko and Linda came to see me. They gave me a nice traditional toy and also brought something for Mom and Dad, something to read and a typical Russian drink...

I am almost 4 weeks old

Look at me enjoying my bath! Great all this warm water around me.

Daddy is having fun as well.

And after a good bath we are both exhausted so we have a well-deserved good rest!

This is my friend Stephane who is Swiss, but that is alright ;-) .

Later when I am older, Stephane will teach me all their is to know about girls...

Stephane brought me a nice friend; Sebastian Jr. the teddy bear. Isn't he cute!

Sebastian Jr. the teddy bear was also born on 15-10-2005 and he is 46 cm and 366 grams! He has brown eyes and his fur colour is heather brown. This is his birth certificate.

I love my mum!

Last Monday I was measured up and yes, I have passed the 4 kg, mon and dad are proud!

I big thank you to my Honourable Uncle Tom Beasor for mentioning my 1-week birthday in his weekly newsletter. Have a safe and successful journey to the Far East Honourable Uncle Tom!

This is my uncle Erik who came as soon as he could all the way from Holland, leaving his own little ones (Tim, Joris and Sofie) behind just to visit me. You can see he is happy to see me. He brought me some clothes that are already too small for Joris and Sofie; I am so pleased!

Kijk eens naar deze prachtige kleertjes; ze zijn een kado van Elke & Jesse (mijn nicht en neef). Ze zijn nog een beetje groot maar ik zal er voor zorgen dat ik er snel in groei. Wat zal ik stoer zijn!!

Look at these beautiful clothes; a present from Elke & Jesse (my nice and nephew). They are still a bit too large but I will make sure I grow fast so I can fit them soon! How sturdy I will be!!

These are my proud parents Saskia & Harry!

I am so nicely asleep with my mum

My daddy is trying to make me smile... how easy it is to please him.

Have a look at this beautiful picture; Tom and Sandy came to see me when I was barely one day old! Sandy could not stop cuddling me and Tom was eating the traditional Dutch 'beschuit met muisjes'.

Also Shar and Jay were there. Jay made these foto's so he is not on it, but look at Shar, will she be next...?

Hello, this is me with my opa and oma. They were in London when I was born. At this picture I am only 3 days old. You can see they love and adore me!