Nicknames

I am the king of nicknames.  I create one for just about everyone because it is my little way of expressing an endearment to that person. My brother Peter, is "Pedro", Matt is "bubby", his Dad, Kirby, is "the Kirbmeister", my Mom, "mommy dearest", and Austin is no different!

Let me list them:

1. Pooper Scooper:  Lets not ask why I came up with this name, but those that know me, know.  To me it means "cutie" and when Austin is "being cute", he is "scoopin poop"!
2. Austa Luego
3. A-Man
4. Oostin

I know I have more, but the above are the common ones!

Hasta Luego!

9 months and counting!

Well, happy nine month birthday my little man!  You are developing such a personality and it is just precious to start seeing you assert your wants and desires and show the need to do things "on your own".  

Boy you are a crawling fool and can now reach speeds that would leave a cheetah in your dust!  Constantly on the go and when you focus on something, there is no stopping you.  We are teaching you the word "no" but you just giggle at me although I am trying to be stern and show a straight face.  How do I not laugh with you???  Yoga moves are a new thing for you.  Doing the downward dog is a favorite as you build your legs up for longer range travels!

What are you doing over there???

That pose is perfect!

I am "Eating Well" Mommy!

I'm done Mommy

Doggies!

You are learning to feed yourself now.  You handle the bottle all on your own and we have ventured to frozen popsicles filled with pears, yogurt and other favorites.  You are doing well.  We are going to stop feeding you solely with the spoon and let you begin feeding yourself little bits of your favorite veggies and fruits.  I think you are ready to begin eating some chicken and other meats too; we are going to have some fun.

Today you had your nine month wellness check and you weighed in at 23.9 lbs and 30.5 inches.  What a big, strong boy.  You are very healthy and a big thumbs up from the doctor!  Truthfully, the doctor was mainly impressed with your hair.  It is so curly at the top and it is beginning to curl in the back and is a fond subject of each and every friend and stranger that you come across.  Mommy can't wait for more curls; Daddy not so much. Ha!  You have seven teeth now and the doctor and I think you have a molar coming in already.  Understandably, you have been a little fussy but who can blame you with such a big tooth pushing through!

Oh! Don't let me forget!  You said "da-da" twice today.  I guess we can consider that your first word since you repeated it at two separate times today!  Good boy and your Daddy was so excited to hear his name.  He is extremely proud.

Again, happy nine months my love!  Mommy and Daddy treasure you so!

Virginia Adventure and 8 mos old!

I can't believe it has been a month since my last post.  It has been a busy month though!  First of all, Austin turned eight months old!  He has been growing rapidly, but handsomely and we are loving his new found mobility.  We have cordoned off the fireplace and shelving on either side to keep those areas safe from the wrath of Austin, for now and we will see how everything else shakes out.  I had been waiting for this moment and although I love it, it is definitely a constant duty of baby proofing around here!

Austin loves being tickled and is very playful.  His smiles are contagious and he is definitely aiming for a reaction from us when he does it.  I have even witnessed him slapping his hands together (like we would knee slap) when he found something to be funny.  What a joker!

Mommy goosed me!

What a dreamboat!

We are blessed to have friends that loaned us their condo in the Virginia mountains located near Charlottesville at the Wintergreen Resort.  It was amazing and about 20 degrees cooler at 3000 ft elevation.  While there, we visited a few attractions, including the Luray Caverns.  We highly recommend seeing it.  It was pretty incredible as caverns go.

Amazing reflection!

Really amazing

The second place we went to was Monticello, the estate of Thomas Jefferson, our 3rd president of the United States, author of the Declaration of Independence and for the sake of our friends, the founder of the University of Virginia.  What an extraordinary mind and visiting the site made me want to learn more about him.  I see a biography to read in the future.  Definitely a must see folks.

All packed up and ready to roll!

View from Monticello of Mt. Alto.

Monticello estate

He was pooped!

View off the Blue Ridge Parkway

Who has Austin???

The drive to Virginia was a long one from Atlanta but Austin was absolutely a wonderful traveler.  We did a few pitstops, went with the flow and in no hurry.  Probably the right attitude when traveling with a little one.  I am really looking forward to future adventures with the little guy and can't wait to see the world through his eyes.  What a treat!

Country Roads

The other night, Austin and I were having a discussion about whether he needed another bottle to go back to sleep.  He thought he did; I disagreed.  After rocking him for a bit I decided to sing to him one of my favorite childhood songs and one that I had been singing to him since he was weeks old, "Country Roads" by John Denver.  

I have one specific memory that I am fond of when I think of this song and that is on my fifth birthday in Hawaii.  I was "queen for the day" and was proudly wearing, what I think was, a Burger King crown hat.  A couple neighborhood kids and I decided we were going to sing "Country Roads" to our parents and I got to stand on a tree stump as the center of attention.  Have no idea if those details are true or if they were conjured up in my day dreams (I did that a lot as a kid), but nevertheless, it is a memory that I love.  I love singing it to Austin as well and it seems to settle him just fine:

Country Roads, by John Denver

Almost heaven, West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River
Life is old there, older than the trees
Younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze

Chorus:
Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, Mountain Mama
Take me home, country roads

All my memories, gathered 'round her
Miners' Lady, stranger to blue water
Dark and dusty, painted on the sky
Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye

Chorus

I hear her voice, in the morning hour she calls me
The radio reminds me of my home far away
And drivin' down the road I get the feeling
That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday

Chorus x 2

7 Mos Old!

This last month has been extraordinary in the changes we have seen in Austin!  He is sitting on his own and is super active on the floor now.  He rolls over to get where ever he wants to go.  Front to back, back to front, non stop. We are grabbing cords, reaching for things otherwise out of his reach and rocking constantly. Changing a diaper is interesting because the rolling over does not stop. 

Bath time fun!

First swim!

"Reading"

Blueberry fun!

Austin's has taken to eating mommy's homemade foods.  He has had sweet potatoes, squash, baked apples, baked pears with cinnamon, green beans, carrots, blueberries, watermelon, bananas thus far and we are going to start trying out some meat in the next couple weeks.  We are eating three meals a day while reducing our formula intake by about 10oz/day.  

Homemade goodness

We had a huge breakthrough just recently with stopping the acid reflux medicine that he had been taking since he was 8 weeks old.  We were so excited about this and I am sure Austin was glad to stop taking his daily "strawberry delight".  Also, we have also just recently switched to regular formula containing milk and he seems to be handling it well.  Looks like the milk intolerance is behind us as well!

First swing!

Austin slept for his first eight hour stretch a couple weeks ago so we got to experience a few "once a night" feedings for about a week, which was nice.  We are back to two times per night but his stretches are longer overall and he is learning to fall back asleep on his own although he definitely needs help to get to sleep.  This is fine by us as we do enjoy rocking him to sleep in our arms.

Homey

Standing practice

Drool machine!

As posted before, teething has been uncomfortable for Austin this time around.  We think the top two are coming in but it is still hard to tell at this point.  

Seven months old little boy!  Yay!

Teething

Just the other day a friend had wondered why I hadn't posted anything about teething.  The truth was, Austin went through the first set of teeth (the bottom two) with really no effort.  I mean, there was a lot of drooling and he did have a fever for one day about a month prior to them coming in but one day they just popped through and walla!

Well, literally that very night after speaking to my friend I discovered Austin had a low grade fever and realized that he may be teething again.  He had been drooling quite a bit again and chewing everything in sight (including trying for the dog's paw - yuck!). He also has had a few nights of having a tough time going down and staying asleep for any length of time.  Once we realized this, we started giving him Tylenol for relief and then switched to Advil.

It has been three days now and the poor kid is still running a low grade fever and seems to be bothered a little more than usual.  To say the least, it has been a nightmarish week for all of us.

Sweet Austin, believe me we enjoy every moment with you.  We are documenting these little trials though so we remember them with laughter and to eventually hold it over your head!  xoxo, Mommy and Daddy.

Milestone - Austin is 6 months old!

What an amazing time to be experiencing right now as Austin turns six months old today.  I feel like so much has happened in the last couple weeks (besides the last 6 months!), I am in awe of how much Austin is changing and coming into his own as a vibrant individual in this big, big world.  

As mentioned before, Austin has moved from an all day wear to just night/nap time wear for his brace.  Within that week, he was finally rolling over on his back with and without the brace and scooting all over the floor.  All of sudden, we are moving the coffee table downstairs and researching the safety proofing of the living room to get ready for this little guy to begin exploring beyond a 4x4 range of space.  Exciting and frightening at the same time because as parents we have to get used to keeping a closer eye on him and the freedom of going out of the room for even a second has been lost.  

We had a slow start to introducing solids but we are on our way and have figured out that we LOVE bananas and carrots thus far!  I do lots of singing and airplane moves and even show him that "mommy likes it too" to get him excited about eating this new way.  I admit I was weary of moving on from our routine, but this process is turning out to be fun for the both of us.  We will be feeding Austin homemade baby food, so we are pureeing fools and freezing the colorful one ounce cubes each week.  I've done sweet potatoes, baked peaches, carrots, and bananas thus far.  

Sweet Potatoes!

Father's Day was a big day for the "A" man as well.  The night before was a tough one for Austin and I.  I had been working on getting him back to sleep for about an hour and a half and gave up about 6am.  The next thing I know, he grabbed my finger and took a big chop and "OW!" that hurt!  Austin's first tooth broke through!  Yep, a little clear nib, that is sharp as ever, is peaking through!  I was so excited, we went upstairs and woke Daddy up to show him!

Happy six month birthday little man.  We love you very much and are enjoying every moment with you.  You are certainly the pride and joy of our lives.  Fun times ahead!