Christmas!!!

Austin's first Christmas was so much fun!  He slept late (yep, we are enjoying sleeping in on Christmas for as may years as we can), waking around 9.  We then cooked and ate a yummy breakfast of pancakes, bacon and breakfast potatoes.   Austin played with the animals and admired the stockings and gifts while breakfast was cooking.  Once we had mostly cleaned up breakfast, it was time for presents!

Austin needed some coaching and encouragement to rip at the gifts, and reminders not to eat the wrapping paper!  He made out like a bandit with a variety of new clothes and toys.  I'm not sure if we'll have enough storage space for all his new toys!!  We didn't take as many pictures or video as we would have liked, because we were having too much fun watching him stare at the packages and play with the toys.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and playing with our new toys.  Daddy got a new iPad, to replace the one that had gotten water spilled on it.  Needless to say, this iPad will be put in a heavy duty case!!  This one has a camera to be able to FaceTime.  We are excited to use it, as Austin really showed more interest in the person on the other end when using Grandma Cindy's iPad a few weeks ago.

Mommy got a new 15 inch cast iron skillet and 16 gallon stock pot!  Domestic gifts I know, but exciting none the less!!  I also got a beautiful necklace, made to be durable enough for Austin to tug and chew on, with matching earrings (those won't be worn while baby is around, I'd like to keep my earlobes in 1 piece thank-you-very-much!).  Mommy and Daddy also got a fondue pot and fondue cookbook.  We have some friends with fondue pots as well, and are already planning a fondue dinner party!

Overall it was a successful and relaxing day.  Mommy is not so secretly hoping for a big family Christmas next year, whether that be with her side of the family, daddy's side, or BOTH!  Hint, hint family!!!  ;-)

 Taking advantage of some unseasonably warm December weather!

9 Months!!

Yep, the new year brought Austin into his 9th month of life.  He's SO much fun right now!  He's crawling EVERYWHERE, and getting into everything!!  He's also pulling himself up onto the couch, coffee table, laundry baskets, and especially the tub.  He knows how to turn on the water while standing at the tub (thankfully it's the cold water).  He can also walk while pushing his toy, but only when helped to stand behind the toy and encouraged to motor forward.
Austin's favorite activity is still taking a bath, but he is showing more and more interest in how his toys work (rather than simply chewing on them), as well as reading books (this makes mommy VERY happy!!).  He just began noticing the pictures in his room, and especially likes the ABC print hanging above his bed.

Perhaps one of the more exciting things he's learned is how to wave "bye bye."  Austin will wave to daddy as he leaves for work.  It's fun to see him beginning to understand communication.  Daddy got a new iPad for Christmas, which Austin LOVES to spend FaceTiming with his grandparents, aunts and cousins.  He really pays much more attention to the screen than he does with my little phone.
The animals continue to adjust to Austin's increased mobility and interest in them.  Tracker does not particularly care to be climbed on, typically getting up and moving when Austin touches his tail, or paws, and especially when he tries to pull up on him.  Lucy on the other hand, will lay there while Austin grabs at her ears and face, and tolerates him pulling up on her and burying his face into her.  I think she just revels in any kind of attention she can get!  It's nice to see that at least one of our dogs will let him play on them.  Tracker will appreciate Austin more once he learns how to throw the ball for a good game of fetch!

8 Months!

Time is flying!  8 months already!  It's hard to believe, but as more time passes, Austin just gets more and more fun.  He has finally figured out how to crawl, but is still in the process of mastering it.  He loves to stand a the coffee table, but can't quite pull himself up yet.  He's begining to take more of an interest in foods, with black beans being his favorite.  He continues to LOVE bath time, now turning over to crawl in the tub, and he's learning how to splash (mommy always laughs or flinches when getting splashed).

Overall he's growing into an adorable little man!

See for yourself:

7 Months!

Austin started out his 7th month of life with a cold.  He stayed home with mommy on Monday, and Daddy on Tuesday.  Cousins Evan and King, Aunt Shannon, Uncle Evan, and Grandpa Eric were in town for Halloween, and poor Austin was sick through it all.  He was a happy sick though, so that made things better.

Austin is really moving along now!  He's transitioning from sitting to onto his belly without face planting, scooting everywhere (backwards), and scooting around in circles.  He's willingly bringing himself onto hands and knees (transitioning from a push up position), and has begun rocking!  He's starting to pull himself up onto toys (though can't do it independently yet).  And if we thought he loved his jumperoo before...MAN does he LOVE it now!!  He'll spend up to 45 minutes jumping, laughing, and talking in that thing!  His babbling is sounding more like words and less like yelling ("ba ba ba, da da da" vs. "aaah ahha aah").  

He's had a variety of foods now: avocado (his current favorite), peas, acorn squash, sweet potatoe, minnestrone soup (ground up obviously), spaghetti squash (also ground), and stir fry (ground).  He really hasn't turned anything down yet, but has shown more interest in the peas, avocado and stir fry.  It's fun seeing his reaction to different foods, and finally being able to give him a taste of foods (an automatic reaction I've been fighting since he could sit up).

But enough of the talking, lets see how he's changed since his 6 month pictures!!

Patience is a virtue

So you're probably wondering why I haven't posted anything for a while.  For the record, I have 7 posts written up, and awaiting pictures.  The reason for the delay is memory space.  We have finally filled the memory of our wonderful MacBook Pro.  I have taken so many pictures since Austin was 6 months old, but I can't load them onto the computer for lack of memory space.

But not to worry!  Our taxes are currently being worked on, and we (along with a gracious Christmas gift) will be purchasing a NEW computer...with 3 TERABYTES of memory.  I'm hoping that will last us until Austin is 5 or 6 (I'm learning how to delete non-essential photos, keeping only the really good ones).

So, please stay tuned.  We should have our new computer within the next month, but you may have to wait until June (SUMMER BREAK!!!) to really see an explosion of photos (I do work full time ya know!).

Thanks for your patience!!

9 Month Check-Up.

Austin went for his 9 month check-up the second week in January.  Mommy was back to work, so daddy took him.  He was an absolute peach, even when it came to getting another shot.  He weighs in at 19.6 lbs and is 29.25 inches tall.  That puts him in the 50th percentile for weight and 80th percentile for height.  Looks like he got daddy's height!  Lets hope he got mommy's ability to stay skinny!!  :-)

Checking out the cars while waiting for the doctor

I just LOVE that cloth diaper butt!!

GQ