Walking!

Austin is now walking! It's a blend of tippy-toes and "the frankenstein", which makes him look like a drunk ballerina, but he LOVES his new independence. Now I spend all my time running after him and moving unsafe objects out of harm's way. Even relatively harmless objects are now dangerous when Austin barrels toward it face-first. It's hard to watch him get all the bruises and scrapes, but I know I gotta step back and let him do his thing.

Aussie's 1st Birthday!!!

Aussie's 1st birthday came faster than I expected. He's now 24lbs, 31.5 inches, and drinking whole milk! He's also learning to stand without holding onto anything and has incredible balance.

For his birthday, we had a bunch of family visit and threw a big BBQ bash! Even many aunts and uncles from out-of-state made the trek to celebrate it. Austin was spoiled with many books and toys and dined on hotdogs and Ben + Jerry's ice cream cake - SPOILED!!!

One of his favorite gifts was a ride-on car from his Omi and Pop-pop. Thanks, guys!

Miss(ter) independent

Austin is really starting to love books and games. So far, his favorite books are: "Toes, Ears, and Nose" (a gift from my friend Carla) and "Barnyard Dance" (a gift from my Aunt Tracey). He loves turning the pages and always makes me re-read them. After the third read-through, I usually have to find a clever way to distract him while I hide it, otherwise we'd be reading all day!

He loves to knock over blocks and he just started playing games with his daddy, who has started him on a rigorous schedule to strengthen his soccer skills.

6 Month Milestone

Austin, now 20lbs and 28.5 inches, is a ball of energy. His smile will light up a room. We recently traveled to Arizona, where my parents have a second home, and Austin discovered his toes (in cold CT, the've been hidden under jammies and socks). Now he grabs them and rolls to the side. These little barrel rolls are so cute. He's going to crawl any day now!

He's just been introduced to pears, peaches, apples, peas, carrots, and squash. Mealtime is especially messy.

4 Months Old and Fiesty!

At Austin's recent doc appt, he was 16.5lbs and 26 inches! Needless to say, he is now wearing 6 month clothing. He is growing so fast, I can hardly keep up. But being a mom has been really cool so far. Here are some of my favorites to date:

• No matter how tired I am, I always wake up happy because the first thing I do is turn to Austin, who immediately flashes a huge smile! His excitement about starting a new day is contagious.
  
• Austin's body sound combos: The Fough, pronounced "Foff" (Fart-Cough), The Snart (Sneeze-Fart), and The Shart (self-explanatory).
  
• When Austin grips my hair like it's the reins of a horse and he's a jockey in the Kentucky Derby (even though it hurts and I will soon be completely bald).
• His passion for food. Whether I'm nursing or bottle feeding, when the milk hits his lips, his eyes immediately roll to the back of his head like a drug addict that just shot up.