4 Star Dining

Just a quick post to share Austin's dinner experience tonight....
He got to enjoy some rice cereal mixed with peas tonight. Apparently, that was exactly what he wanted, because he was so excited with every bite that he waved his arms around frantically each time I approached his mouth with the spoon. This made for a very messy meal. Peas were all over him, me, his chair and the floor. I finally managed to figure out a full body maneuver I could do with each bite to sort of pin his arms down to keep from making an even bigger mess. But yet, he managed to figure out a way.... He sneezed. I guess he just wanted to make sure I'll be finding and wiping up splattered peas for days to come. And his grand finale- he pooped. Awesome.

6 months old

It's hard to believe that Austin's already half way to being a one year old. It's zooming on by pretty fast, which, as I've mentioned only probably a few hundred times, is a little bittersweet. Although life with a 3 year old and a 6 month old isn't always easy, there are definitely times that I wish I could freeze time and keep them little forever.
So, what is Austin up to at 6 months?

• He can roll over from his tummy to his back. A feat that he was doing at 5 months, although unwitnessed. Now he lets me watch. And he has a surprised look on his face everytime he winds up on his back.


• He can almost roll from his back to his tummy. He still hasn't been able to make it over his shoulder, but I know it's coming soon.


• He can sit up unsupported for a second, sometimes. Most of the time he will fall over though, which Bella finds hilarious.


• He has two teeth, on the bottom. I love his mostly gummy smile with those two stubby teeth.


• He wears size 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers.


• He loves to laugh. One of his teachers at school told me that she's never heard a baby laugh as much as him. His favorite person to laugh at is still Bella. In fact, the other night he had just fallen asleep and she kissed him, and he laughed in his sleep.


• He's doing much better at night. He usually gets up around 1am then again around 5am. He sleeps in his crib, but usually stays in our bed after the 5am feeding. I love waking up to that fat, smiling face- it's impossible to wake up grumpy that way!


• He loves jumping in his jumperoo. He jumps so aggressively that he can move it across the floor.


• He loves his stage 1 baby food now. It took a while to get used to it, but he really enjoys all of it now. Even the peas.

Happy 1/2 birthday to you, Austin!

SNOW!!!

While most of the country has had more than it's fair share of snow lately, here in Wilmington, we hadn't seen so much as a single flake until this past Friday night. When it started snowing shortly after Bella went to bed, I was too excited for her to wait until the morning to see it. I went in and got her out of bed, which I never do. She was excited to see it to, especially since she's been asking all winter "is it gonna snow today?" So, needless to say, she bounded into our room fairly early Saturday morning, squealing and heading straight for the window. We woke up to a good 4 inches of snow on the ground, which is not much at all compared to other areas of the country, but it's a lot of snow for us. In fact, the weatherman had a list of snow in Wilmington since 1984, and the list was literally only 6-8 lines long. We were all pretty excited- well, except for poor, clueless Austin. He just grinned because we were happy :)

We got Bella and ourselves all bundled up to head outside to play. Here are a few pictures...

Jeez, mom, I realize it's cold out, but are all these clothes really necessary?

Bella and Scott working on their snowman. Scott forgot to rake all of Frank's "piles" out of the yard the day before, so he was afraid to make a bigger snowman for fear of including some poo.

Here's some snow for Frosty, Daddy.

Putting the finishing touches...

Scott and his babies...

Frank may be getting old, but the puppy in him still comes out when it snows. He had a blast too!

Me and my babies...

We had a good time playing in the snow. And we also enjoyed some hot chocolate afterwards. Maybe we'll get some snow again sometime!

First Dentist Visit

The other day, Bella had her first visit to the dentist. I'm kind of a stickler for the recommendations made by the pediatrician, and I asked when Bella turned one when it would be time to make that first dentist appointment. The dr. said 3, so pretty much as soon as Bella turned 3, I made the appointment. A co-worker recommended a wonderful pediatric dentist here in town.

Bella seemed very excited and eager to go. When we got there, she was happy to see that there was even a small door for the kids to go in. She told Scott later that day that she went through the little door and that mommy and Austin had to go through to "regular"door.

The hygienist came out to the waiting room to meet us and talk to Bella before taking her back. She said they like to take the kids back alone, and wondered if Bella would agree to that. I didn't think so, but Bella wanted to, so she followed the hygienist right on back. They were gone about 5 seconds before the hygienist re-appeared with Bella. I ended up having to go back with them, which is what I really wanted to do in the first place.

They were awesome with Bella. Even though Bella never got comfortable enough to allow them to clean her teeth, she enjoyed getting to play with the instruments. She and the hygienist shot water across the room and Bella even got to squirt water on the chair and suck it up with the little suction thing.

She did allow the dentist to look in her mouth and count her teeth while she sat safely on mommy's lap. She even got to go pick out a prize for being so brave :) Before leaving, Bella quietly agreed to let them clean her teeth next time. We'll see...

I'm going to Disney World!!

Yep, that's right, the Lindsay clan is headed to Disney World! Well, almost the whole Lindsay clan- Austin will be staying at home with his Grandma and Grandaddy.

Scott and I went to Disney World for our last spring break before we graduated from graduate school. We had a lot of fun (although, I think I had more fun than he did). We were engaged at the time, and I specifically remember a brief conversation while we were there saying the next time we come will be with our children. We also said that we wouldn't try to make a trip to Disney until both of our kids were old enough to enjoy it. Flash forward 8 years, and we're eating our words. Bella has been kind of obsessed with the Disney princesses lately, and we decided that it would probably be really fun to take her now. I'm super excited. I can't wait to see her all dressed up in her Cinderella dress headed to Cinderella's castle to meet the REAL Cinderella.

Bella is super excited too. It's a toss up on who is looking forward to the trip more, me or Bella. She keeps asking questions about it, and the way she says Disney is so cute (Dis-ah-knee). She told me the other night that she's going to fly with Tinkerbell while she's there. Uh, okay, sure. I think I may have messed up telling her that we're going. We're not going until mid-May, so I'm sure 3 1/2 months will seem like an eternity to a 3 year old.

It might seem like an eternity for me too. In the meantime, I'm busy planning. I'm checking out different character meals and planning our different park itineraries. There's a lot to do there, it's almost a little overwhelming. But, hopefully, in the end, our little princess will have a blast!