No Nap? No Problem. Just Dance.

What do you do when a certain little monkey decides not to take a nap?

Drive your trash truck in circles around your baby brother.

Act really silly and make Austin's blankie a hat.

Laugh really hard when Austin keeps the hat on and makes silly faces.

Have a dance party with Mom.  That seems to cure the grumpiest of moods around this house.

This is the Life

Just a typical evening around our house...

 

Austin gets a little dinner outside,

while Philip and Coop play ball and practice running the bases!

And then, it's supper time!

 

I'm a lucky girl.

Hammock Time

 Someone started getting very sleepy in the hammock with Mommy. 

 

While Austin slept, we had a little pizza picnic in the front yard.

Brotherly love...and squeezes.

Treasures on a Firetruck

This is one of the bazillion reasons why I love Cooper.  This is so him.  To you it might just look like a bunch of stuff piled onto a firetruck.  But to Cooper, it was a special creation.  He worked hard on it. Purposefully picking out each toy and meticulously placing one by one onto the truck.  And he was so proud and excited to show me when he finally finished.  Things like this make my heart chuckle each and every day.

He Sure Has Grown

October 13, 2008

 April 12, 2012

Austin: Months Five and Six

At five months, Austin...

• stopped getting swaddled because he was attempting to roll from his back to tummy
• started sleeping on his side
• started working on sitting up and had it mastered by the end of month five
• stopped sucking his fingers to fall asleep (most times) and really relies on his taggies blankie (5.5 months)
• started playing in his excersaucer and loves it
• loves, loves, loves, loves, loves his big brother, who can make anything funny

At six months, Austin...

• Loves sitting up and playing! Loves reaching for toys around him and grabbing his toes. He actually lets me put him down more these days because he likes sitting up so much. 
• He's a really happy baby.  Content, smiley, overall easy (except for sleeping) and almost always happy.
• Sleeps on his side for the most part, but a few times I've seen him asleep on his tummy. He forgets how to roll back to his back, though, so he usually starting crying until I come in there and help get him comfortable again.
• Still consistent in his routine--awake for about a two-hour stretch and naps three times a day. He's not consistent with how long he sleeps at night. Sometimes it's only four hour stretches, sometimes he'll go eight hours. But at least I have a really comfy chair to sleep in when I get up to feed him!
• Loves, loves, loves, loves, loves his big brother. Everything Cooper does is funny; every noise Cooper makes gets Austin's attention; every time Austin hears Cooper's voice, his eyes dart around until he finds his big brother. 
• He's cuddly and sweet and gives the best slobbery kisses I've ever had, since his brother, at least.  :)
• Has a little bit of stranger danger.  In a group of people, he would really rather stay in my arms or Philip's arms and gets really clingy towards us.  He's a little picky about who he lets hold him.
• His favorite toy right now is a soft ball that has different textures on it and makes a jingle noise when it rolls.  He also loves some colorful little stacking cups. 
• He babbles up a storm.  Ba-ba-ba; da-da-da; ahh-ahh-ahh.  He has even started making little growling sounds and squeals REALLY loudly when he wants direct attention.
• According to Austin, the most funny thing his brother can do is to dangle a cup towel in front of him or tickle his face with it or drag it across his head or hide under it.  They could do this for half an hour and fill the room with the best two giggles and belly laughs I've ever heard!
• And the biggest thing at six months....Austin is seriously working on crawling!  Just in the last week he's made huge progress in this department.  Up until this week, when trying to reach for a toy, he would start by sitting up, then kind of flop onto his belly and scoot toward the toy.  Or he would stay sitting up and pull himself forward on his tushi.  But now, as of the last couple of days, he'll start by sitting up, then put his weight on his hands out in front of him, turn his left knee underneath him and reaches out for toys.  It's literally a matter of turning that other knee out from under him and he'll be in crawling position!  I know it's only a matter of weeks...or maybe days, at this point.  I'm so not ready for this!!

 Six Month Stats:
16 lb
27"
*One pound less than Cooper, at this age, and 3/4" shorter.

At six months, I'd say we are all doing pretty well!  It's been easier than I expected to blend our play time together.  I do miss one-on-one time with Cooper, but I just feel like we are doing a good job at doing things together.  We'll all go outside and play in the fort (Cooper-focused), but we'll also sit in the playroom and play with Austin toys and have a more focused Austin-play time.  Does that make sense?  It's hard to explain, but it's working pretty well.  And, I have some good one-on-one time with Austin while Cooper naps.

And, I feel like I say it in every post these days, but Cooper just adores his little brother.  He tells Austin how much he loves him; he checks on Austin; he sits and talks and plays with Austin; he tells me constantly how happy he is that we have Austin.  I never knew my heart could be so full of love for these two!