More crawling...even better!

Look how far he's come in only 2 days!! He's speedy on the carpet now and getting pretty good with the hardwoods.

A little taste of my new skill!

The Yummy Face!

Into EVERYTHING!

So it would seem that Austin got the memo that he is 7 months old now and it's time to get up and get moving!  In only a week he has begun to crawl much better, making 5-6 moves before he sprawls out or sits up and then he's back at it again.  He has already made it to the hallway and kitchen where there are wooden floors.  He's not quite sure about the feel of the wood as opposed to the cushy carpet in the living room but he seems to be adjusting.  And speaking of carpet, I now have to vacuum at least every day because he seems to notice every speck of dirt or debris that has been tracked in and of course it goes directly into his mouth.  It would be a little easier if we didn't have a very bad doggy who likes to go and get garbage and shred it on the floor!  I turned my back for less than 30 seconds to get the phone and when I came back he had an empty toilet paper roll that Lucy had dragged in.  I think they're in cahoots!

So remember when I said in my 7 month post that he wasn't really into pulling up?  Well in the little bit of time that has passed he has decided he wants to try and pull up on anything and everything!  It's making me increasingly nervous and now I sit here and scan the house many times a day just picturing the disasters that could possibly occur.  For the most part it looks pretty safe, but you never know!  I just heard about a little boy who was killed because he pulled a dresser over on top of him so I'm extremely paranoid now. 

But paranoias aside, I am excited that Austin is able to move around and better explore his environment.  He is learning so fast and it makes me a proud mama to see him accomplish these tasks so quickly and easily.  I love to just sit back and watch him go, and that's what I have to do a lot of the time because all I seem to be good for now is someone to feed him, someone for him to pull up on, someone to un-stick him from akward positions he gets into, and someone to comfort him when he knocks himself in the head with a toy!  Oh he still loves his mama, but his new found talents comsume a lot of his time and attention now.  At this rate, he'll be driving before I know it!!

Mr. Independent

I have finally given in and let him do it himself. It's kinda cute watching him hold his bottle all by himself, but it's just another sign that he's growing up WAY too fast!

New life!

I had noticed for a few days that everytime I passed this tree in our front yard a mama bird would fly out of it. When we came back from our walk this weekend, I asked Ryan to look for the nest and try and see if there were any eggs in it. He not only saw a couple eggs, but a few newly hatched little birdies chirping away! The nest was low so he was able to get a video of the little birdies in their nest to show me. I just thought it was so awesome and had to post it. I've never seen little birds this young and I can't really tell which end is which, but how sweet is it that a new little birdie family just hatched right outside our door! :)

Worn out!

This morning after a little breakfast and play time, I put Austin in his Jumperoo to bounce out some of that energy while I had breakfast of my own and tidied up the kitchen. Things started to get a little quiet and when I peeked into the living room I saw that by sweet little guy had fallen asleep in his jumper! It was about the cutest, yet most pitiful thing I have ever seen so I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures before I took my sleepyheaded boy in my arms and laid him down in his soft crib for a nap. Poor thing must have been exhausted because he was napping away at 8:30am...about an hour and a half before his usual nap time.

Water baby!

Yesterday evening we decided to take Austin to the pool for the first time. We got him all dressed in swim diaper and trunks (so cute!) and headed down the street to our neighborhood pool. We were in luck when we walked in and saw no one was there so I hiked up my pants and we waded around the 1 ft. kiddie pool. Austin wasn't sure what to think of it at first and had this look of terror on his face as we dipped him into that chilly wet stuff, but soon enough he was grinning and splashing and having so much fun that daddy decided to get in and join him!

The water was cool at first but you got used to it quickly and it certainly wasn't too cold for the little guy once he got over the initial shock. We all had fun in the kiddie pool and then daddy decided to take Austin into the big pool for a little more fun. They had a great time and I only wish I had worn my suit so I could have gotten in too! Hopefully, if the weather will cooperate, we will head back out there this weekend for some family pool time and bring Austin's new car floaty!!

7 months old!

I feel like just yesterday I was writing a post about Austin being 6 months old so it's hard to believe it has been an entire month since then. I told Austin this morning when he woke up that he needed to slow down a little bit because mommy thinks he's growing up way too fast! I mean, I sat down at Ryan's softball game last night with his buddy who has a 2 month old little girl and I seriously couldn't remember Austin being that small...EVER! Those newborn memories are starting to fade and everything is changing so quickly. I love to watch him grow up and learn new things, but I'm just so scared that by the time he's a year old, I won't be able to remember what all we went through to get there. I guess that is just another good reason to keep up the blog, so I can always look back! Just maybe this month will go by a little more slowly because 8 months old just sounds way too old for my little guy, it's 2/3 of a year!

Anyway, I feel like I say this every month, but boy what a busy month this has been! Austin has learned so many new things and made so many big changes that I can hardly believe it. Here's a list of his most recent accomplishments:

-He is sleeping 10-12 hours a night in his own room which is working out fabulously and he takes 2 (sometimes 3) good naps a day.

-He is eating 3 square meals everyday and is finally loving baby food. He can't get enough of his mashed bananas, but still won't eat those darn peas.

-Austin can drink from a sippy cup and enjoys drinking his water with a hint of white grape or pear juice. He can also hold and feed himself his bottle, but I still like to help, I don't want him to become Mr. Independent just yet!

-Just recently he has learned to push himself from his tummy into a sitting position and loves to sit up in his crib after a nap and turn on his Rainforest soother. (I laugh every time I hear those rainforest sounds coming over the monitor)

-Austin is slowly getting the hang of crawling but finds it much easier to just roll or army crawl his way around. He really enjoys exploring all the new places in the living room and especially loves to try and get my shoes.

-He has the ability to pull up on things but doesn't try to do it much. He's still too busy exploring his new found mobility on the floor to worry about what's in a chair or on top of the coffee table. He loves to stand in my lap, however, it's just the right height for him to get a fistful of my hair or the sunglasses on top of my head.

-He also has the ability to stand on his own for a few seconds as long as we place him just right. He likes to stand on his tippy toes a lot which makes it hard for him to balance sometimes. I did this as a child too, I wonder if it's hereditary?

-Austin can be very talkative when the mood strikes him and likes to say ma-ma, ah-gee, and to blow raspberries.

-Austin is 21 lbs. and 28.5 inches long (roughly 1/2 my size!)- both of which are in the 75th-95th percentiles for his age ( I will get exact numbers when he goes back to the doctor in July). He is wearing size 12 months or 12-18 months clothing and a size 3 diaper.

-Finally, as you can see, Austin LOVES Lucy (and she doesn't mind him too much). He smiles everytime he sees her and tries to pet her whenever she's close enough for him to get his hands on. He finds the kitties somewhat interesting but Lucy is his favorite by far. I wouldn't be surprised if the two of them became best buds before too long!

Oh my, how I LOVE this little guy!

And Austin just loves being outside (and mommy and daddy too of course)! The past couple days have been fabulous for hanging out in the back yard in the cool green grass and swinging in the new swing. Our next adventure might have to be making our way to the neighborhood pool for a little afternoon dip. I can't wait to get him in his swim trunks for the first time!!

And there he goes...

I knew it was coming soon, but I didn't expect it this early! Austin has learned to crawl/scoot/lunge and with this new found ability has been making his way all over the living room and discovering all that previously un-explored territory. As I might have expected, his first mission was to make his way to the stack of DVD's under the TV stand and once he was bored with that he made his way to his Exersaucer and proceeded to try and crawl underneath it. He ended up getting stuck and so I had to intervene, but I swear he got that way on his own, no help from me at all!

In other news, I went to get him up from his morning nap just a few minutes ago and entered his room to find him sitting up in the middle of his crib playing with his blankie! Until now I had to place him in the sitting position but now he is going from tummy to back to sitting all on his own! He had been doing this tripod thing for a day or two now and I knew it was only a matter of time before he learned to bend his knees and pull his legs around, but I never expected to find that he had done it for the first time today and while in his crib! I guess we need to lower the mattress now since I know he is able to pull himself up on the railing if he wants to.

I just can't believe that in one day all these things have just clicked and he's already seemed to master skills that he's only been attempting for a short time. Since his nap he has pushed into a sitting position at least 4-5 more times and then continues to go back to his tummy and scoot all around! He has already made his way back to the DVDs but I did a quick babyproofing while he was napping so when he got over there and saw there was nothing to try and get, he just rolled to his back and began chewing on his toes. :)

Yay Austin! I'm so proud of my little guy for accomplishing such big tasks but I'm also a little terrified as I look through my house and see all the things he can get into now!!

Green Pricklies

The other day I was trying to get a good shot of Austin in front of our pretty flowers to go in my new Mother's Day frame. I sat him down in front of the flowers directly on the ground and he immediately gave me a look of absolute disgust. He seemed to be fascinated, confused and totally annoyed by those little green prickly things underneath and all around him. I did everything I knew how to do to try and make him smile but he just wasn't having it. If anyone would have seen the crazy moves and sounds I was making to try and get just the tiniest grin they surely would have called a local institution! After awhile, Austin's disgust turned into curiosity and he began digging for handfuls of the dirt and grass. After a quick examination of this strange new stuff, those tiny dirt filled hands went straight for his mouth and the photoshoot was done! I managed to get a couple of cute shots and everytime I look at them I just can't help myself but to laugh at his little expressions!

Simultaneous tortures!

So after several days of an extremely fussy, clingy, and overall unhappy little man along with a clean bill of health from our precautionary doctor's visit, I have finally deduced that Austin is simultaneously teething, going through a growth spurt and just getting frustrated in general with the fact that he's trying so hard to crawl with no such luck. Poor little guy!

My happy-go-lucky baby boy has made his appearances few and far between these past few days and it's just killing me not knowing what to do or what exactly is wrong. We visited the doctor last week to make sure we weren't dealing with an ear infection and left with a clean bill of health. It's just so hard when your little one can't tell you what's going on in their tiny bodies and I end up feeling like Dr. House trying desperately to figure out a medical mystery!

I guess all I can do for now is just give him lots of extra love and hugs and kisses until he's back to feeling like himself again!

Horray for Mommy's Day!

Today was my first official Mother's Day as a mommy and experiencing this day as a mom makes you truly understand what an important day it really is. I remember as a kid I always wondered why there was no "Kid's Day" and my mom would say "...because every day is kid's day!" It may have taken me 27 years, but I finally understand what she meant, for mommies celebrate their children every day! However, I think that sometimes moms aren't celebrated enough for the work that they do.

Being a Mom is a full-time job, and for those working moms out there, like my own, it's a second full-time job! A mommy's job is a 24/7, down and dirty, up all night, constantly worrying, never ending, always cleaning, rarely restful, money spending, and attention giving kind of job.... BUT, you never forget all the effortless smiling, laughter and giggles, hugs and kisses, happy tears, sad goodbyes, special moments, important milestones, and the pure love and joy a child can bring to your life. Mommies have the hardest jobs in the world, not because of dirty diapers and 3 am feedings or even because of all that dreaded school age drama...but because they work so hard and spend so much time trying to raise the best child they possibly can and then they have to let them go and set them loose into the world and just pray that they did everything they could.

Like my mama always said...motherhood is the hardest, yet most rewarding job you can EVER have. As I see Austin's life unfolding before my eyes, I know it's going to get harder (and if he's anything like his daddy when he was a kid, I REALLY ain't seen nothin' yet!) but I didn't become a mother because I thought it would be easy....I am a mother because I have seen the special bond that a mother and child can have, the unwaivering love and the happiness that children can bring to a family. But first and foremost, I am a mother because God blessed me and gave me the sweetest and most amazing gift He could possibly give. Everyday I thank Him for bringing Austin into this world, and more importantly, I thank Him for making me his mother!

Happy Mother's Day to all you amazing, hard-working, and loving moms out there. And a special thank you to my own mama, for without her love, support and guidance, I wouldn't be the fabulous mother I am today!!

A swingin' good time!