Mommy's Little Helper

Austen is now ten months old and up to a lot of new things. He can now clap and does so often and he also has started to whistle. It's very cute!! He loves to follow me around the house and "help" with whatever I'm doing. If I'm doing my makeup, well then he's going to play with my makeup (don't worry Brian, I barely ever put makeup on anyway). If I'm in the kitchen cooking, then he's emptying the cupboards....the one's that don't have a saftey latch. I generally think it's cute even if it is a little messy, but the other day when I was in the bathroom and turned around just in time to see him throwing his bath toys in the toilet, well that wasn't so cute!!! I also thought it was cute that he was "helping" me sort the laundry until he decided to crawl in between the washer and dryer and get stuck. (Pictures to follow.)
I kind of thought Austen was showing signs of being an early walker, but he seems to have digressed in that area. When he was just doing the army crawl he was very interested in walking, but now that he has gotten the regular crawl down he has lost interest in walking. He just crawls too fast to be bothered with something new I guess.
Austen loves Sophie and she is starting to think he's alright now that he can open her toy cupboard and sort of play with her. They like to play tug of war and she keeps hoping he'll throw her ball. When he does get her ball he tries so hard to throw it, but it only goes a few inches....not far enough for her to even bother with though.

The other night he fell asleep on the couch. I don't know why I think it's so cute....maybe because it's sooo his daddy.Here he is playing with the mop. I shortened the handle all the way so he could push it and he thought that was the best toy ever!!!

Stuck in between the washer and dryer.

He crawled in and then realized he couldn't turn around to get out.

It was a tight squeeze....I could barely get him out!

I Guess This Is What Happens.......

When you leave the Dad in charge.Spilled finger puffs everywhere!!!He "somehow" got the whole container and dumped them in his lap and on the floor. Sophie was in heaven and Austen was fascinated by Sophie eating them all.

I'm sure there are bigger messes to come!!! Yesterday I caught Austen throwing his bath toys in the toilet and today he got himself stuck between the washer and dryer. He is seriously the most curious kid in the world and it doesn't help that he is smarter than me. He finds his way around every contraption I come up with to keep him in one room. He is busy, busy, busy!!!

HaLLoWeEn

It's obviously Austen's first Halloween and needless to say I was really excited to dress the little guy up. I bought his costume a year ago when I was 6 months pregnant, but it was so cute that I couldn't pass it up. It's a cute bat outfit and luckily it totally fits his personality. (And by some miracle it fit him physically as well.....I bought it before I knew I was going to have a little giant on my hands.) He didn't mind the costume and was just happy as could be so I thought we would have a fun time trick or treating, but throw in the cold and the fact that bed time was nearing and trick or treating turns out not to be so fun for a 9 month old. We went down both sides of one street and then he was done, but he got to go to a few houses AND he was even holding his little pumpkin bucket for people to put candy in. It was a really fun evening and I can't wait for next year because I think it will be even more fun.

Here's our cute little bat. (Notice all the pics are blurry. Aparently he is a very busy bat!!!)

I had him in the stroller at first, but that didn't last too long.

He turned to the side at the last second in this pic, but he has such a cute smile in it that I had to post it.

And......he's done!! Had enough of that!

Austen goes to the doctor tomorrow for his flu shot booster so I'll find out how much he currently weighs and put it on my next post. I'm always fascinated by how quickly this guy can put on the pounds. (About as fast as his mom after all this Halloween candy.)

The Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch and picked out our pumpkins to carve. It was a nice warm day which made it even more fun. Austen and daddy took a long time picking out the perfect pumpkins and then we took them home and carved them. Well Brian and I carved them and Austen sat and watched. He won't be participating in the carving for a while.....if ever. I'm not sure I'll ever let him have a knife.

The pictures loaded backwards for some reason, but here is the finished product. Mine is on the right, Brian's on the left, and Austen's in the middle.
Here's the cute pics of the pumpkin patch.

Austen is going to be a bat for Halloween and yes, we are going to take him trick-or-treating for as long as he'll last. I can't wait to see him all dressed up!!!

You Can NOT Be Serious....

It's already started??? He's only eight months old!!! I'm pretty sure I'm in big trouble, this kid is way too smart for me!!!(He took the game out of the cupboard and used it to reach higher up on the shelf.)

If I didn't have this picture I don't think anyone would believe that he actually does this. This pic is of his first time doing it, but it has happened again and again since then.

In other my baby is incredibly smart news, Austen has started doing two new things that are totally cute. Unfotunately I haven't been able to get pictures of his newest, but try to visualize. First, he has learned to close his eyes on purpose. It's one of the funniest things I have ever seen because it takes all of his concentration and every muscle in his face. He even scrunches up his shoulders when he does it. Even with all that effort his eyes don't usually close all the way....it's more of a squint, but he is very proud of himself when he does it. I always laugh at it and he'll do anything for a laugh (sound familiar??) so he'll do it over and over. Very funny!!

Second, he has learned to wave. This is totally cute!!! Especially when he waves good-bye to Brian in the mornings.

He has learned how to escape from his bouncy chair even while buckled in. This has forced me to borrow a pack-n-play from my sister to contain him.
Just a really cute pic of him sitting in daddy's chair.


I am loving hats on him lately, so here's a couple cute pics of him in hats.

And for those of you who read my blog, the week of hell (trying to get Austen to be able to put himself to sleep) turned into eight days. I have never heard of it taking anyone that long! So, I gave up. I will try again in a month when he's a little bit older and see if he's ready then. And yes I did it right. That's the first thing everyone asks. I never took him out of his crib and I wasn't feeding him either. I am at a loss, so if you have any ideas please comment!

I've Been Replaced......

By Curious George!!!!

You're going to need the backstory.....here goes. Austen and I used to cuddle up together before bed. It was my absolute favorite thing ever and I'm pretty sure he loved it too. Now that he's eight months old I figured that unless I want him sleeping with me for the next 15 years I'd better teach him to fall asleep on his own. We are now currently in the midst of "hell week" (not my term, but the name is certainly fitting!). It goes like this...I give Austen his nightime feeding and then put him to bed. He usually cries for about ten minutes before he cuddles up to Curious George and falls asleep. It's so sweet as you can see from the above pics! I bet you're thinking that doesn't sound too bad right??? Well that's because the bad part doesn't come until later. He then proceeds to wake up between midnight and 2 am and doesn't want to go back to sleep without me. He screams and screams for hours. Don't call DCFS.....I go in every 15 mins to calm him down, put in his passa, and put the blankets back on. (Last night this took 3 hours and I wasn't in bed until 3 in the morning.) The ultimate goal is to have him sleeping by himself through the night. Everyone claims this works, but we are already on day 4 and I have yet to be convinced we're any closer. I'm not going to give up, so we'll see. I just keep telling myself that someday his strong will and determination to never give up will actually be a good thing.

Now for the really exciting part of my post.......HE CRAWLS!!!!! A real baby crawl on hands and knees and with his tummy OFF the ground! I am so excited about it that I think I've made Brian accrue about 5 hours of crawling footage with the camcorder. It's just sooooo cute that I want to make sure we capture it. At first he was a little wobbly and it was pretty mechanical looking, but he is getting better at it and a lot faster. Sometimes he thinks the army crawl is more efficient so he switches back to it, but he's doing the scoot less and less. Also, last week I mentioned his balance needed some work before he gave himself a head injury from all the falling. Well, I'm proud to say he is making progress. He hasn't mastered balancing yet, but he is starting to get it and falling a lot less! He has also started to take steps around the ottoman (while still holding on of course) to get to things that are really exciting such as a cell phone or a remote.

I had to include this pic because I think it's funny. He thinks it's hilarious to pull ALL the toys out of his toy box, but I don't, so I try to discourage it. This is a pic of him realizing he's been caught.

And here's some pictures of him crawling. Hopefully you get the idea, but you have to see him in action to appreciate the cuteness.

And.....We're Back!

Okay, we never REALLY went anywhere, I was just too busy to blog so we took a break for a while. We had company in town which was really fun. Austen got to meet his paternal Grandpa and an Aunt and Uncle. Too bad he won't remember it........I guess that's what pictures are for!



Since I last blogged a lot has happened with Austen. He's practically a whole new baby! He sits up, crawls (it's more of scooting than crawling, but it still counts because it gets him where he wants to go), and his newest thing is pulling himself up to stand. This has been the most difficult development for me because he has learned to pull himself up, however he has not mastered balance.......actually I don't even think he gets the concept yet. Since he can't balance whatsoever when he's up, it leads to a lot of falling and crying! I can't leave him for a second and if I do decide that something has to be done....ya know like empty the dishwasher or go pee.... I have to make sure he is confined. No more rolling and scooting around on the floor playing with toys while I cook dinner. Nope, those days are officially on hold....indefinitely. It's alright though because he is just so proud of himself once he gets up. How could I not be just as excited and proud???

Here's a pic of his other new thing.....sleeping on his side. I think it's so cute that he's starting to develop preferences.

I had to include this pic for two reasons. One it's proof he sits up and two I bought this super cute toy that I thought he would love (it shoots balls out, they roll down, and do it again all while playing music) and he is scared of it. He's so scared he will crawl backwards away from it while crying. It sounds awful I know, but it's actually really funny!


Oh, and he got a highchair that he loves to sit and eat in!

This is just a really sweet picture that we took while we were at the zoo. Look at that face!

And last, but not least.......a montage of him pulling himself up and getting into everything! Please look especially close at the top middle pic. It's too funny! I totally caught him getting into the toy cupboard and he just gave me his cute little smile so I wouldn't get mad. (Did I mention he also opens cupboards now?)