Multitaskin' Momma

Can I just say that my sling is the greatest thing EVER to hit baby stuff...not that it's a new idea, but still....

Ahhhhhh......

Pete and Austin were playing last night with a chrysanthemum. Here they are having a moment.

p.s. for those of you who didn't know, you can click on the pictures and see the bigger version of them.

A picture with me in it (gasp)

This certainly isn't the most awesome picture I've ever taken, but given the fact that he and I spend SO much time together (yay) and the complete lack of pictures with me in them with a face shot, Nana took this one yesterday. In case you were wondering, the green thing in his mouth is a delicious carnation stem...mmmm....

I stand alone....(to the tune)

So, a few days ago while Austin was enamored with a toothbrush travelling case (!?) he NEEDED to investigate it with BOTH hands and in doing so happened to stand alone...for about 30 seconds. At that point, he realized he was standing alone, panicked, and fell. hmmmm...makes you wonder if that's a metaphor for things in life sometimes....

Anyway, since then he's done it a couple of times every day...getting bigger and stronger!

this face

He was so excited while balancing on top of the trailer gate, we got some super cute happy faces from him. This is the look of sheer excitement.

hmm...or maybe the camera caught him as he was peeing...I'm going to stick with sheer excitement. :)

"No I will not pee sitting down"...an EC update

So, I have to post the EC update. Austin is 6 1/2 months now, and I haven't put him in EC undies/prefolds for several days now (except when we go out of course). There was a period of a couple weeks where we were cranking through every prefold we had in two days...and then he got a tooth. Common EC knowledge dictates that during major moments of physical or phsycological growth, you are going to have more misses than normal. So, we had lots of misses, but then Austin got his first little tooth. Ta-dah!

So, he's now been on a kick where he does NOT want to pee on his tiny potty anymore. Any weeing that involves "wee-position" (which is holding him so his back is against your tummy and hands supporting him behind each knee) is SO 'last month'. If I try, he arches his little back and makes his whole body straight as a board...which is sort of funny by itself too. Apparently, the new "in" way to pee is to walk yourself (supported by your tech crew, Mom, underneath your armpits) into the fabulous bathroom Papa Ross and Nana built, step onto the nice stone ledge overlooking the pool of flat river rocks on the bottom of the shower, have said tech crew (Mom) pull out the special effects of running water (I turn the shower nozzle on just a tiny bit) and quick whip your pants down and VOILA! As soon as the water hits the drain, Austin is standing there with his little naked butt, peeing in the shower.

Now, the funnier part is that he's SO proud of himself. After weeing, he looks up and finds my face and smiles and giggles with this incredulous look on his face as if to say, "Holy Cow! Did you just see that!?" And recently, he's realized that HE is the source of this fascinating stream, and follows the stream from the drain back to himself. In doing so, he bends forward at the waist to see where all this excitement is coming from...and pees on his britches. But hey, who's counting...he's 6 1/2 months old and can pee in the shower and poop in the tiny potty. And the tech crew (Mom) does the happy dance!

While I'm sure we aren't at the end of the road and there are plenty more developmental milestones and teeth, prefolds and EC undies to go through, this is encouraging and fun.

The Loot...and Rock's hairpiece

After trick-or-treating, we went back to the house to unload the loot from the pumpkin. Austin had so much fun emptying it out and discovering all the shiny wrappers, pushing them back and forth across the bed.

Rock, not being one to be left out of the festivities, was front and center the whole time. Here he is looking with Austin into the bottom of the pumpkin. The next shot was taken from Pete's
vantage point. Austin was lying on his back snuggled up next to Rock being enormously entertained by a mini Skittles and Crunch Bar and suddenly Pete burst out laughing. All he could see was Rock's back and randomly a tiny forearm clutching a Skittles package would pop up and disappear.

And finally, Austin going all "ninja" on a bag of BetterMade potato chips....woaaaaaa!

Our Tiny Tiger...a Halloween Story

Happy Halloween! Austin went Trick or Treating for the first time this year! He was our Tiny Tiger....since he's always attacking things (chewing) with his mouth. His little nose scrinches up and he bites down. So, we took him around the neighborhood to all the folks I regularly see on our walks and Pete was finally able to meet everyone! One of the ladies down the street even planned for Austin stopping by and instead of a bag of candy had a little stuffed rabbit for him! She also invited us in and we had some hot cider with them. Austin had some fresh cider from the mill down the street and thought it was DEElicious. So, now we get to trick-or-treat vicariously through Austin for the next couple of years before he realizes we're eating all his candy :)

Vocab lessons

When Papa Ross takes Austin places, it's a fantastic hands-on vocab lesson. Discovering all the tools in the garage, Austin touches each one as Papa Ross tells him what each is. Here, he's discovering "trailer" and "tire."

I've been doing sign language with him and he's starting to recognize "gentle" and "hot." Pete works on him with "gentle" while he's petting the dogs and playing with things on the wall, and he and I sat with a warm cup of tea and worked on "hot." I still need to find out the signs for "flower" and "flag," two of his favorite things. We have a fall chrysanthemum and he was a little leary of it at first. He'd touch it VERY fast and pull his hand back like it was hot for a couple of days. He's getting over that though. I imagine there will be plenty of dismembered flowers on the living room floor in short order. :)

Just a quick taste....

While exploring the backyard with Papa Ross, Austin continues to develop his refined palette...he will soon be a seasoned connoisseur of delicacies such as dirt, wood chips, dog hair, dead leaves, and the butt-end of Sharpies (magic marker pens).

And the saying that says the cheapest toys will be the favorite still holds. Currently in the running for "best toy to play with" is a bell attached to the fan he can dingle while on Dad's shoulder, a painting Marla brought back from a far-flung country, a piece of a scuba-diving setup with an old-school clothespin stuck in one end, and old drawstring from a pair of shorts (yes, only under close supervision), a kid's toothbrush Grandma Katie got for him....oh, and of course the ever-versatile dirt, wood chips, dog hair, dead leaves, and Sharpies :)