8 Months

He's on the move! Austin has gotten quite good at doing the army crawl. He can get where he needs to go, and he's getting faster. I'm ready for him to start crawling on all fours though, it might save me some time doing laundry. I don't care how much I try to keep the floors clean, a fat, 8 month old baby belly can pick up dirt better than a swiffer.

Here are some other 8 month old Austin facts:

• We think he weighs about 20 pounds. He's still quite the chunkster.


• He wears mostly 12 month old clothes now. His 9 month clothes, especially the one piece ones, are too short.
• He STILL does not sleep through the night. He goes to bed around 7-7:30 and wakes up consistently around 12-1 am for a bottle. The pediatrician has told me he's big enough to not eat during the night, but I've tried not feeding him, and it does not make him happy! So, I've decided that since the pediatrician is not offering to come soothe my baby in the middle of the night, I will continue to give him a bottle until he decides he's ready to give it up. Hopefully, he'll do better soon!
• I just bought him his first sippy cups. He hasn't quite mastered them, but he loves to chew on them and throw them to the floor from his high chair. Then he just smiles as we pick it up for him, over and over and over...
• He loves to yell! Anytime he's "talking", it has to be loud. I guess he has figured out that if he's to be heard over his sister, he needs to be louder than her.

Here are a few pictures from Airlie Gardens here in Wilmington. We went last weekend to enjoy their spring flowers and couldn't resist at least attempting to get some good pictures of the kids...

Here's Austin in front of the 400 year old Airlie oak.

The munchkins. For the life of me, I could not get Bella to actually look at the camera and smile.

Bella and Austin in front of Airlie oak

Just listen for the sound of giggles...

Sometimes, it can be tough coming up with activities on the days I'm at home. I feel like we have lots to do at our house, but somehow, Bella still gets bored at times. So today, I suggested we play hide and seek. Bella thought it was a fabulous idea. I counted first, and she hid. As soon as I said, "ready or not, here I come!", I heard the giggles. That took the challenge out of finding her. Then I found her hiding place. She was sitting in the chair in her room. In plain sight. And the next time it was her turn to hide? Back to the chair and giggling. Perhaps, I should have done a better job of explaining the game. But it still made me smile.

Austin's Dedication

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:5-6

That was the scripture we chose for Austin's dedication. He was dedicated last Sunday, April 11 at our church here in Wilmington. We have joined First Baptist Church and love it. And it's a small world because the pastor used to be an associate pastor at First Baptist Church in Greensboro when we lived there.

Austin did great- he allowed the pastor to take him and walk all over the sanctuary with him. Bella also enjoyed standing at the front of the church, although she didn't quite get the concept that she should remain quiet. She kept asking loudly "WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO SING AGAIN??"

My parents and Scott's parents came down for this, and we enjoyed a BBQ lunch with them after church. I was stupid and forgot to take my camera with us to church, but we did get some pictures at home. Too bad I forgot it, because our church is beautiful. It's over 200 years old and downtown by the river... But here are some pictures we did take- you can see how handsome he looked for all those folks at church!

Bella and Austin with their Nana and Papa after church

Big Sis and Little Bro

Handsome fella!



Bella and Austin with Grandma and Granddaddy

Watch Your Language, Ma'am

I am fully aware that a 3 year old is like a little sponge. Everything I say gets stored away somewhere in that little head, just waiting for the perfect moment to emerge. Some things, I'm awfully proud of- like the time I told Bella that I would give her to the count of 3 to let me brush her teeth, and she proceeded to count to 10 as I stood there dumbfounded. Other times, I'm not so proud.
I really try to watch my language around my kids. But, every once in a while, a little word slips out in frustration, only to be repeated by Bella later that day. I have heard her say "damn it" a few times, and unfortunately, I know exactly who she learned it from.
But, tonight, I realized that it's not only the obvious curse words I need to be careful of. It's also the words I use in place of them. I don't think I use them much, but I have been known to use words like freak, frick or shadookey in place of more colorful language. Apparently, my sponge noticed too. Tonight, while Austin was getting his bath, he was extra excited and was splashing insane amounts. We bathe him in the infant tub on top of our bathroom counter. The mirror, countertop and floor were covered in water. I was dripping wet myself. Scott and I were laughing at how happy he was, and then Bella chimed in behind me.... She said "Look at him, he's splashing like a little moe foe!" And I hung my head in shame...

DaDaDaDa

Really, Austin?! That's the first thing you have to say? After all we've been through together, you're first "word" is Dada?!
Nah, I'm not really offended, I love hearing his sweet little voice. And, truth be told, Scott is an amazing father and I can tell that Austin adores him. Although, it would've been nice if Mama was his first "word". It's kind of funny though, I've been coaching him today- I keep repeating mama over and over, and every time, he responds with a loud Dadadadada :)

7 Months

This past Sunday, Austin turned 7 months old. Austin's 7th month should be re-named the month of the forever ear infection. He has basically been fighting off an ear infection since December- just one after another. This month it seemed to finally come to an ugly head with a nasty double ear infection. After his check-up this morning, we finally have a plan. The last antibiotic round that he finished last week almost got rid of the infection. He was prescribed another 10 day course of a different antibiotic to, hopefully, get rid of the rest. The Dr. says that since we are getting to the end of cold and flu season, he should be able to enjoy at least a few months cold and ear infection-free. We discussed getting tubes put in his ears, but his pediatrician feels that he is too young to undergo general anesthesia- and I agree. If the warmer weather does not bring him relief, or if we start down this same path in the fall, we will head straight to the ENT for a consultation on getting him tubes. I guess time will tell!


Other than that, Austin is just perfect! He's still a really laid-back kind of guy. The Dr. said this morning, that based on her limited assessment of my children's personalities, poor Austin will more than likely be bossed around by his big sister. She definitely has the more dominant personality of the two. Oh well, I guess after being bossed around by his big sister, he'll make someone a fantastic husband one day :) Or decide to be a forever bachelor.


Here are some other things that Austin has going on:

• He weighs 19 pounds and 13 ounces which puts him at the 75th percentile weight-for-age.


• He is 29 1/4 inches long which puts him above the 97th percentile length-for-age and keeps my Dad's dreams alive that he will someday play basketball for the Wolfpack. Below is a picture of Austin already starting his rigorous practice schedule.


• He still wears size 3 diapers.
• He wears 6-9 month or 6-12 month clothes, depending on where they came from.
• He can turn front to back and back to front.
• He's gotten quite good and spinning in circles on his belly.
• He acts like he's going to start the "army crawl" soon.
• He can sit on his own, but he's still not very good. Sometimes he can sit for a minute or two and other times he still falls right over. And Bella still finds him falling over hilarious.
• He enjoys his cereals, fruits and veggies. Thus far, he's not a big fan of meat.
• He's very affectionate. Last week, he started giving kisses. They're the best, although they're a little sloppy :)
• In addition to kisses, he loves to give hugs. When I pick him up, he wraps both arms around my neck and buries his head in my chest. I love his hugs as good as his kisses.
• Most of his signs of affection are sweet and nice. Others, not so much. He loves to pull hair and grab faces. That kind of hurts. I have to "save" Bella a few times each day, although if she weren't always in his face, it wouldn't happen so much.
• He continues to be such a happy baby. He smiles and laughs all the time! My cheeks often hurt from smiling at his happy, chubby face.

Here's my two munchkins from today. They are the best of friends.

Here Austin is sitting up on his own. It's not a great picture of him, but it shows off his new skill.

My little happy man!

The Great Bed Shuffle

That's what last night will forever be known as in our house- the night of the great bed shuffle. And it was about as restful as it sounds. It started out as any other night- Scott and I got the kids to bed by 8, then headed upstairs for some mindless TV. Around 9:30, I headed downstairs to do some reading before bed (I have somehow become addicted to the Twilight series, even though I resisted). Just as I turned out my light to get some much needed sleep, I heard the screams. No worries, I thought, Bella probably just had a bad dream. She'll do her normal routine and come get in our bed for a little while to calm down, then she'll go back to her room like normal. Wrong. She came in our room writhing in pain. When I finally got her calm enough to understand what what hurting, she said it was her ear. Great. It's 11 and my child has a raging ear infection with lots of pain. Poor baby. So I gave her some Tylenol, passed her to her daddy and headed to CVS in my pajamas to find some ear drops to soothe the pain. I knew I would be faster than Scott, so I just went myself. There are some interesting characters in CVS at that time of day!
Anyway, I got the drops ($11, by the way, which is insane in my opinion) and headed home. I walked in the door, halfway expecting to still hear the screams, but it was silent. I went into my room to find Scott on his side of the bed and Bella in my spot, sleeping soundly. Scott woke up and eagerly volunteered to go sleep in Bella's bed. He was smart. She's horrible to sleep with. I settled in for my night of being beaten in my sleep by a 3 year old.
As I mentioned in a previous post, Austin expects to join us in bed after his 5 am feeding. Right on schedule, he woke up around 5 to eat and come to our bed. I knew he couldn't come to the bed with Bella, she would surely abuse him unknowingly in her sleep. So, I kicked Scott out of Bella's bed and sent him back to our room so that Austin and I could have her bed. Poor Austin seemed so confused. He just kept looking around her room, but he finally turned his head toward me and fell back asleep.
I heard Bella up and at 'em at 7, so I went to see how her ear was. Surely, based on the drama from last night, it had to still be hurting, right? I had fully prepared myself to pack Bella and Austin up first thing to make it to the pediatrician's walk-in hours this morning. When I asked her how it was feeling, she looked at me like I was crazy. "Um, it's fine" was all she said. Alrighty then. I guess I was off the hook for having to take them to the germ infested pediatrician's office today. All day, each time I have asked, she has insisted it doesn't hurt. But, if tonight is any sort of a repeat of last night, she'll be the first patient there tomorrow morning. Even if I have to go in my pajamas.