And one last video from South Brooksville:

Ben is Dada. His dad is Papa. Here’s Sean doing a dramatic running hug between the two of them.

All in all, Sean had a good time in South Brooksville.

He enjoyed running around outside by the water.

He flew his first kite

He got to ride around on Mommy’s back

And he listened, unconvinced, as Mommy explained why teddy bears *do not* like to go in boats.

Sean pointed out many interesting things, which the grown-ups all seemed to miss

 And learned many new words as the grown-ups conversed amongst themselves

He enjoyed giggling at a book with Cousin Ainsley (read by Uncle Josh)

 And he even took a turn answering the phone

Unfortunately, Sean was more interested in going to see the picture on the other side of the camera than he was in staying still so that he’d be in that picture. Here he’s done his sitting (for 2 seconds), and is now pushing himself off my lap to go see what picture the camera took.

In addition to going out on the motorboat, we took Sean out for a cruise on the Mainstay, an Ensign sailboat. A sailboat is a bigger commitment than a motorboat, in that you can’t just turn around and be back home in a minute if a child gets fussy or upset. Sean was a champ, and enjoyed the beginning of our sailing trip and endured the rest of it without much complaining. A sailboat simply isn’t as exciting, load, and bumpy as a motorboat. There aren’t too many pictures here because I spent most of my time making sure Sean didn’t climb up onto the front of the boat (or over the side), nor get hit in the head by the boom when we came about, nor fall onto the floor when we heeled, nor get underfoot of the captain who needed to steer without interference. (Mine was a full-time job!)

Papa reading Sean a book to pass the time

Ben and Sean out on the Atlantic

Sean enjoyed standing on the motor boat, yelling “Splash!” every time we hit a wave.

We never got a chance to take Sean out on the water last year, but he probably wouldn’t have been very into it anyway. This year, on the other hand, boating was definitely on the agenda. We bought Sean a life jacket at LLBean and, contrary to my expectations, he loved wearing his life jacket. Novelty helped at first, I’m sure. But then I think he realized life jacket = going boating.

Here’s Sean heading down the dock for his first ever boat ride.

Sean checking out the boat, its passengers, and the surroundings.

Mima and Cousin Ainsley came along for this ride

Sean, Ben, Capt’n Uncle Josh, Mima, and Ainsley on board

Cousin Garrett

Look at all the boats out in the harbor!

Sean and his mom enjoying the scenery on a second boat ride

There’s little that Sean enjoys more than trying to balance on moving surfaces. Once I let him stand up, he was gleeful.

Garrett, Sean, and me,

Sean first saw the Atlantic Ocean his first summer, in 2010. But he was only seven months old then, just sitting, and mastering some rather basic skills. The ocean didn’t leave much of an impression. So this year, having just turned 18 months old, Sean really got his first introduction to the ocean. And he is a water boy. (He *is* an Aquarius, after all…) He loved going in the ocean, near it, and on boats across it.

Our first day in South Brooksville was a foggy one, with the thick fog rolling up off the ocean onto the land.

As soon as Sean saw the ocean, he rushed right in, shoes and all. It was all we could do to keep him from going further in. Interestingly, he indicated that he wanted to walk out to the boats. So while he clearly understood that he was standing in water, either he thought 1) the water stayed shallow all the way out to the boats (not unreasonable given our stints in wading pools); or 2 ) that the water further out was solid and could be walked upon (not unreasonable given that the water looks flat and solid when viewed from a distance).

Back on land, Sean enjoyed trying to get as close to the water as possible, while pointing out the boats.

And he enjoyed dropping rocks into the water and hearing them go “plop!”

Every day we’d go out and walk on the docks. Sean liked being near the boats and feeling the slight shifting of the docks with the waves.

The docks made some cool noises when he took “big steps,” too.

Sitting in a wheelbarrow, gazing at the ocean. Look at those curls!

Sean usually had an opinion on what he wanted to do and where he wanted to go. In this case, he wanted to climb up the ramp that attached the dock to the land.

(This is just a teaser. More to come…)

Sean loves books and in particular, he loves people reading books to him. He brought a few with us to Maine, including his Most Favorite Book Ever. See if you can figure out which it was.

Grandpa reading to Sean

Grandma reading to Sean

Aunt Kirsten reading to Sean

HiDan reading to Sean

Yes, “The Little Engine That Could” was Sean’s MFBE for about a month. All the adults in Sean’s life have it memorized. Since then, he’s had a couple other MFBEs. Most of them have a train theme. (And he got a new train book from Grandma yesterday; it’s had a dozen readings already, but I’ll wait another couple days before declaring it the next MFBE.)