First Birthday Party!

Austin's first birthday party was great.  We had friends over, and Austin's Grandma Cindy, Grandpa Eric, and Gram Shirley (great grandma) flew in from Dever and Orlando respectively.  The theme was Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, his favorite book.  We had letter cookies and gummies, and rainbow colored EVERYTHING.

A Whole YEAR!!

It's officially been 1 year since our little man made his entrance into this world.  Nothing has been the same.  We all had a rocky start with colic and mommy having to give up dairy, which reduced Austin's colic a LITTLE bit.  Once we made it past the 3 month mark, things improved greatly, and it's been awesome.  Austin has grown into a happy, handsome, and curious toddler.  He has a smile that can light up a room, and brightens the days of everyone he meets.  He loves to smile and flirt with everyone, especially women, wherever we go (and who can resist those beautiful baby blues with eyelashes that make every woman green with envy?).

He babbles non-stop.  He spontaneously and appropriately uses the words "dad," and "up," and approximates "dog," "bites," and "button." He can repeat "mom," but usually addresses me as his approximation for "milk."  He also loves to wave "bye bye," giving the happiest smile when he waves.
He is SO close to walking, but I think he lacks the confidence to take that first step.  AND....drumroll please.....Austin can roll over!!!  I know, it seems like a trivial skill, but it's a pretty important skill, and I've been worried about it.  He was rolling over with a bit of assistance, but now he can do it!!
However, he does need to be told to roll over, as he won't yet do it independently.  But now that he can do it, I'm sure it won't be long before he does it without being told.

Enough with the chit chat, on to the pictures of our awesome TODDLER!

And now for the collage of monthly pictures.  How much he's changed in just 1 year!

11 Months!

Yep, our little man is nearly a year old.  He's grown into such a beautiful boy.  Everyone comments on his beautiful eyes and absurdly long lashes.  He's already a ladies man, flirting with any lady, young or old, who looks in his direction.  He continues to cruise the furniture, now getting brave enough to let go for a few seconds, but still no steps.  He's a crawling machine, and LOVES playing in the dog bowls...despite mommy and daddy's best efforts to keep him out.  He's learned to wave "bye bye" and can approximate some words: dada, ma, do (dogs), ha (hot), yep, yeah.  The only words that actually have a label are the dogs and hot, though I think dada is going to be used as a label for daddy here shortly.  So much for mama being his first word!! :-(

Despite all the crawling, pulling up, standing and cruising he's doing, our little guy still can't figure out how to roll over on his own.  It's quite worriesome for this OT mama, but we practice daily.  I'm hoping he catches on soon, and that will lead to longer sleeping periods at night.  Yep, he's still not sleeping through the night ladies and gents.  Don't ask me how I function every day, because I honestly have absolutely no idea.

Well there's the update for you, now onto the pictures of our beautiful boy!!

10 Months!

Yep, that's right, our Little Man is in double digits!!  He's more active than ever.  He's pulling up and cruising the furniture, and even the walls!  He pulls himself up on to his walking toy, and can walk all the way from his bedroom to the kitchen, with assistance to for steering of course.  He repeats sounds, his favorite being "eeeeee!"  Thanks for that one daddy!  Still no actual words, but he's finally signing "all done" completely independently.  When he's finished with a meal, he puts his hands over his head, signaling he's finished.  He's up to 7 teeth, 4 on the top and 3 on the bottom.  We LOVE watching him grow, and John gets more eager every day for Austin to start walking.  I think those two will live at the park once that happens!!

Enough talking, how about some pictures of our handsome little man??

First Haircut!

Austin got his first haircut on December 23, 2013.  Things started out very well, but it didn't take long for Austin to begin HATING the whole experience.  Luckily the clippers made fast work, and it was over shortly.